At home and Away

I am going away this weekend, something I haven't done since I started in real estate. Right now, I feel on top of things, I have a bunch of clients, my ads are good (I forced myself to work on them myself and change my attitude and they got a lot easier!) and I am getting responses. More than ever, I am realizing the importance of doing one search, taking the client out once and if they don't pull the trigger...As Neil would say, "Drop 'em!"

I started trying to tell people what to do next, like, "Ok then, let's go fill out an application!" It almost worked yesterday. I took out a doctor who seemed pretty on top of things herself, meaning, she'd seen many of the properties I pulled together for her. I think I garnered some of her respect when I mentioned a property on East 18th street. She knew there was an application on the apartment, but I knew about the identical apartment coming available in a month, not yet on the market. That is an example of what a good broker can do for a client, and why you'd pay someone to help you find a place. Relationships. Not my own personal ones, but the ones my company has with landlords, so they tell us before they run an ad or otherwise let the general know. We are supposed to meet this afternoon to see a couple more places. I have no expectation that she'll turn into money, but I do get surprised sometimes.

Anyway, my cheapy deal is going along beautifully. We are signing leases tonight. Fingers crossed.

In a terrible turn of events, my preppy dudes' apartment got robbed. I don't remember if I wrote that in the previous entry or what, but I feel horrible for them but not responsible.

Over the weekend, I am only bringing my cell phone. No computer since I think internet access is too complicated to arrange for myself. I hope I get the chance to just relax, though my grandma always feels responsible for my "having a good time." It almost feels like a family business trip since I know her car probably and her health both need attention. She fell last weekend, and in addition to some broken parts in needs of surgery, there is a broken family alert system. She took four days to call and tell me something had happened, which for me is not really okay. So, I have to find a gentle way to deal with that. At least I will have no choice but to let go of all the real estate stuff for the time being...