Vistas of Vienna - My First Condo
I thought the real estate agent was my friend. After all, I was only a 24 year old single gal, what did I know about real estate? It was 1985 — none of my friends were buying real estate. I trusted her.
The agent, Suzie, drove me around all day long looking at different condo projects. It was Fairfax County, Virginia – a Washington, D.C. suburb. Finally around 4pm, we were at a condo project being built. I was hungry. Feeling shaky. I loved the place — it had a fireplace and a cathedral ceiling. Pretty cool for 1985. Boy, was I hungry. Suzie was insistent we get this contract written up before I lost the condo. I was not excited. I was hungry!
What I didn’t know was the real estate agent wasn’t my friend. Far from it. In those days the agents worked for the Seller; there were no Buyer Agents. She wasn’t looking out for my interests. The fact that she didn’t take me to lunch should have been my clue!
The next day, after I had eaten two meals, I felt really nervous. What had I done? This condo was way over my budget! Yikes, I had to get out of it. I didn’t want that place. I called Suzie and told her I didn’t want it, but I wanted the older condo we saw which was about $25,000 less. It didn’t have a fireplace or cathedral ceilings, but it was in my budget. That’s how I found my first condo at the Vistas of Vienna — a first floor, two bedroom, two full bath brick unit with a nice patio, double ovens and a garbage compactor.
Today my next door neighbor, Sheila, is a successful, long-time real estate broker. Sometimes she regales me with stories about taking her clients out to look at property, stopping at Starbucks and buying them drinks, taking time for a nice lunch. Suzie could learn a thing or two!
Great article! While I rarely treat my clients to a full blown meal, on showing days I always break for lunch. It gives my clients a chance to go and chat about what they have seen, alone, without the ‘pressure’ of simply having me there. I make sure to leave them with homework for that time. (“Now go and put together a ’short list’ from what we have seen. Be brutal, leave the list with the best 2-3.”) While they dine and work out their choices, I retreat to the office to ‘down a Power Bar’, answer phone calls, and search out answers to questions that cropped up during the showings.
It has worked well, shows my clients that I honor their decision making process, and helps me stay current with the other business that always piles up on showing days.
Thanks for the article. Thank you for being another agent who truly CARES about your clients! You make our industry a better place!
It’s a shame that certain people over 55 feel that condo living is exclusive. Seniors are presented with more living choices than anyone (home care, senior centres, long term care facilities, etc) Fact of the matter, if you want to invest in property and don’t have time to manage “facilities”, then condo purhcases make sense- no matter your age.