This year, work started off slowly. But unlike in years past, many of our clients this year actually came through referral or sphere of influence, which is a whole different ball of wax. First deal of the year was our handyman’s daughter and husband. From the get go, they trusted us (we didn’t have to compete again other agents), and wowee, these clients read my emails, listened to my suggestions, AND followed detailed instructions on getting prepped for the market. And, I have to say, the couple was on the same fricking page with each other. You have no idea what a rarity/luxury that is.

TBH, I was really starting to wonder: how are so many people married to one another AND raising kids together? Bc so many of my past couples could NOT agree on even basic choices like new build vs. old construction, small yard or big yard. I know, I know: there are all sorts of personalities out there and all sorts of relationships. Somehow people are making it work, so I should be less judgy. And maybe it’s just a reminder to myself that I’m very picky about the hard things/challenges I take on. I’ve already mentioned how I have an aversion to inconvenience. It’s not to say, I won’t do difficult things. I just limit exerting extra energy to very few things: work, marriage, and then to a more selective extent: family and friendships. I’m sure it helps too that above all else, I am a doer, so I cannot be in limbo/inaction for any lengthy period of time. Gray areas? Nope. Friendship drama, nope. Tedium of travel, nope. I suppose this does narrow my world rather quickly. Then again, the way I see it, I have to do uncomfortable things all the time for work. Don’t give me added homework on top of that.

So back to my work update. My second client of the year was another referral– a lovely couple, actually even MORE on the same page than the first family! In contract 12 days after we met. It was awesome. And even when there were hiccups in the road, whereas most of my other clients would have grown stressed or anxious or emotional, nada. This couple took EVERYTHING in stride and their case even involved a special circumstance where several 20-30 yr veterans in the biz said it was a new problem they’d never encountered before! Behind the scenes, I lost sleep over it (surprise, surprise), but neither buyer even batted an eye. I was so lucky.

After those two, a few other transactions closed, including one that was THREE years in the making. Yes, it took THREE years bc like I said, the couple was on different pages for EVERYTHING. And we scoured eight different areas in three different counties. In the end, they are happy so all’s good. But I’m glad we got it done. In fact, they just moved into the new house this past weekend. Since then, I had a few other buyers and sellers… closed and done. Whew.

And then, there was that ONE headache of a listing: it had started off incredibly speedy and smooth. We had sold their neighbor’s home for a record high a few months earlier, so the couple reached out. In one week, they signed with us, moved out, AND handed over the keys. Literally, DAY 1 of construction prep (just minor updates), the contractor stepped on plumbing in the attic and triggered the fucking fire sprinklers all over the house. Yup, in a matter of minutes, three levels of a home in great shape, got deluged, er “trashed” as J liked to remind me. Needless to say, from that point on, we were trying to rebuild trust and recover. The two-week delay in the construction schedule landed us at the start of Trump’s tariffs war. Stock market tanked. Market response was quiet, dead even. A month later, the sellers moved back in and took the home off the market. Yup, months of work wasted. Ultimately, they still want to sell, but we’ll see if they decide to come back to market with us. Sigh, that was a huge dud.

So now I’m in summer. I’ve got a couple of buyers who are ready. One is a very picky cash buyer. After four months, I found them a house that ticked nearly all their boxes, but they suddenly got cold feet. I mean, Trump and his world chaos is def fucking things up. Still, these are the times when you can’t be half-hearted. Either shit or get off the pot. They already have regrets for missing out on a home in my neighborhood where they previously insisted the space was too small, only later to decide it actually wasn’t…. Sigh. It’s gonna be a process.

The other buyer family I met through an open house. They are the FIRST buyers to ever respond to my open house follow up email by clicking on a link to schedule an appointment/consultation. Turns out, they are Taiwanese (her family lives ten minutes from my parents in Kaohsiung) and spent some time in Rockville/Bethesda, of course our ol’ childhood stomping grounds. They seem pretty straightforward so far, and yesterday, we saw something they liked. I’m hopeful.

In less exciting news, I finally killed my CRM/Database platform. I had been paying out of pocket for the platform for two plus years, as features slowly dwindled. Finally, I bit the bullet and moved everything to the in-house Compass platform which is free. Meh, it’s a constant fight again chaos trying to keep the database organized. Let’s just hope I don’t switch brokerages anytime soon.