Pat Kennedy - Your Washington, DC Real Estate Connection

Last week I was showing big, pretty houses to a couple who are considering a move to Washington.  They were interviewing several agents, and we really seemed to hit it off.  By the third of forth house, I was confident that we'd be working together. 

Then I made a really, really bad mistake. 

We met the listing agent at the last house, and I had an extreme "senior moment".  I totally blanked out on their names!

Was it Tim?  Ted?  Any "T" name?  Not even close!  And I couldn't cover it up, because I'd started to make the introductions.

It was not my best move.  It may have been one of my worst! 

They've decided to work with a colleague who came highly recommended by some close friends, and she is a fabulous agent.  She might have beaten me out even if I had remembered their names, but I sort of don't think so.

So, on the advice of my sweetie (who has occassional memory lapses himself), I'm getting one of those nice leather Coach portfolios with room for a pad of forms that include the buyers' NAMES IN BOLD PRINT at the top of the page!

Last week, a nice house came on the market in Woodley Park, a favorite neighborhood of mine.  It's also a favorite for some clients, and the day the house was listed, I called to arrange to show it to them.  Sorry, the agent said, no showings until the broker's open house (6 days later).  OK, I am a patient woman, and I knew that no one else can get in, so last Tuesday I finally showed it.

The house shows very well.  It was also very well priced, which was a good thing because there are two very similar houses for sale on the same block.  My buyers liked it and we were discussing maybe possibly writing an offer.

The agent decided to help me out.  She told them she expected the place to sell for way more than the asking price and that she was pretty sure there would be three other offers. She even speculated that they expected to get about $70,000 over the asking price.

Whoa!  Pricing for that much less than your sellers want to get is a strategy that went out of style here about two years ago!

These buyers are what you might call motivated.  They live in an adorable doll house in Georgetown, and baby number two is due very soon.  But they are also being very smart about this move, and the thought of getting involved in a bidding war in this market did not appeal to them one bit!

This listing agent is an old pro.  I really like her a lot and have enormous respect for her.  But even the best of us have breakdowns of the old brain-to-mouth filter mechanisms.

And I think her listing will sell quickly, it just won't be to my buyers.  Ah, what might have been!

Normally, Evers & Company has a strictly enforced "no grump" policy in the workplace.  But this week, it has been temporarily lifted for the many Mac users in our office.  So they are leaning out the windows to shout, "We're mad as hell!  And we're not going to take it anymore!"*

As the first of my colleagues started to drift back to the office after they went for the conversion, they were livid.

No doubt about it, SentriLock is terrific in many ways.  It slices and dices and minces and then cleans itself up as a home entry system.

But the little attacment for updates isn't Mac compatible!  And the Sentrilock folks just said "Install Parallels." 

Sorry, but that defeats the two main purposes of using a Mac!

1. Macs don't have a big virus issue, unless they install Parallels.
2. Macs are unbelievably fast, unless they install Parallels.

I haven't done the switch yet, but colleagues who have siad the GCAAR folks said it never occurred to them to think about Sentrilock and Mac, because, they maintain, only 1% of the agents use them.  But when they did their survey, they forgot to ask me or any of the other many Mac users in my office. 

Where did they get that number?  More important when did they get that number?

A few years ago, I was a PC user.  And like a lot of my colleagues, as PC's started to slow down or wear out, and as agents were faced with Vista and frustration with viruses and other web-based nasties, a lot of us started to look at Mac as an alternative. 

When I first bought my Mac, I had two computers on my desk - my new fast and amazingly cool Mac and my trusty but turtle slow PC.  Within a couple of months, I passed the PC on to my nephew.  While the pre-Vista number may have been 1%, my guess is that the number is a lot closer to 15 to 20%, with the number growing.

I had no idea there were so many Mac users at Evers until the Sentrilock conversion.  And it's hard to tell whether we're just a bunch who know a good thing (Donna Evers and Macs) or whether this is a trend among agents all over.  And now that I think about it, everything we use for our business is now Mac compatible. 

So, (as the loose cannon in this area) I'm starting to get calls and emails from Mac users who want to sue!  Who or what, I'm not sure.  Sentrilock?  State and local Boards? 

But wait!  While it could be a fun class action lawsuit, we need to start out by communicating with the powers that be at GCAAR and MAR!  They'll probably listen.  And then if they don't we can get crazy.

I have this client who is a total mad dog lawyer. 

* For those of you who are too young to remember, this is a famous line from the movie, "Network" - which I strongly recommend you check out on NetFliks.

Yesterday I spoke at a memorial service at a beautiful home overlooking the Chesapeake Bay.  It was for the old friend who was my older and wiser (and very glamorous) downstairs neighbor when I lived in New York - at 46 East 83rd Street, the funkiest building in one of the world's most exclusive neighborhoods. 

As I sat at the computer thinking about what I would say, I realized that I had said it already - to Camilla herself the last time I saw her!

When we met, it was the 1960's and I was living one of life's great adventures.

She was a wonderful friend, mentor and confidant who was one of those larger than life people who shape lives of so many people around them.  I shared with her my dreams of going back to college, and getting a job in Washington with Ralph Nader.  When I got off track by getting engaged to the young man who might have become my first ex-husband, she meddled.  She introduced my to The Fabulous Frenchman, which sort of put and end to the engagement.

She taught me to appreciate fine Italian leather and anything Chanel.  She taught me about serious foodie stuff, taking away my powdered garlic, and presenting me with the real thing and sharing many old northern Italian family cooking secrets.  She threw amazing dinner parties, and you never knew who would show up to discuss all sorts of weighty issues.

She played a huge part in my life during my 20's. 

She was my New York fairy godmother and a friend for life.

While it was great to share my great Camilla stories with a room full of her friends, it was so much better to share them with her while she was still here to laugh with me.

And I feel blessed that I was able to thank and acknowledge her for all she did for me while she was still alive.

So take a look around at the people you love and people who've made a difference to you as family, friends, colleagues, mentors and teachers - whatever.  And when you get a chance, thank them for the contribution they made to who you are.

A couple of years ago, I had a client who was an elderly hoarder.  She had a ton of stuff in her house, and she was finding it almost impossible to get out of the place and into her pretty new apartment in a senior community.  And it bothered me. 

I spoke to her last week, and something in the conersation pushed me into action.

So I spent the weekend clearing out stuff I don't need.  I wound up with four bags of trash and seven bags to go to Value Village.  And I've just begun. 

One breakthrough was realizing that I don't have to hold onto something that I might need at somepoint in the vague, hazy future.  I tried to use a "zero based" approach.  Pull out what I actually use and wear, and send the rest off to be recycled by someone who actually needs them right now.

I've watched my sellers go through this little exercise because they have to - they're moving!  And some have a harder time than others.  And I want to aspire to Zen minimalism in this lifetime!  And that means a repeat performance for several weekends to come!

I can do this!