Sharron. We had a guy who worked for us that lived in a nasty looking trailer and that was just from the outside. He was not very well kept but he was such a nice guy. I had a repo that was going to sell pretty dirt cheap and I told him about it, it wasn't all that but it was so much better than what he had. He managed to get to the local bank and get a loan.

He was so proud of that house. It was a house and you could tell he was happy with it as he kept the grass mowed and he even started to improve himself. He had long strangly hair and probably 2 whole teeth in

his entire head.

He cut his hair and last time I saw him (he doesn't work for us anymore) he had teeth. He had totally changed. He cleaned up real well and I think the house motivated him. I was so happy for him and walked him through the whole process as he had never done anything like that.

I have others but this is one that came to mind tonight.

Young couple, had their eyes on a small land parcel for a couple of years. We listed one in the area, he called us and we worked through the deal with him. We never met his wife. He wouldn't let us talk to her because he wanted to surprise her.

We set it up with the title company to do the signing at a Starbucks. We were there with the escrow officer waiting for them to arrive. They grabbed coffee, and sat down at the table with us.

His wife was clueless. She just had this horrified look on her face like, "why the hell are we sitting with these strangers?" The escrow officer pulled out the paperwork, Francy slid some photos of the lot across to the buyers. She started crying, Francy started crying, the escrow officer started crying. Heck, the guy and I were misting up, doing the guy thing -- you know, turn you head and wipe a tear like nobody knows what you're doing... And I'm pretty sure the people sitting next to use started weeping as soon as they figured out what all the crying was about.

It was a $17,000 transaction. We whacked the crap out of our commission to get the deal done. I think we got about $200. But this one wasn't about the money. It was SO cool....

Well, let me chime in here. I just closed a deal on the 28th of last month that was probably the most satisfying deal I had ever done and might be the most satisfying I will ever get the pleasure of accomplishing.

For three months I had been working a couple that make an honest and hard working living. The husband works the 2nd shift - which just makes things a little more difficult due to time constraints. And they went through the classes for the 1st time home buyer program in Pinellas County. But their price range just wouldn't support a decent home in this county. So we went up to Pasco and they went through the program there. That alone took a few months to complete because they had to go to several classes for each program and the class scheduling was spread out over time.

We find a home that they are very interested in. It was a nice home that had been very nicely updated. But the problem was that it was in a flood zone which means it will require additional flood and wind insurance. Before making a decision to make an offer I obtained three quotes on the insurance. It was outrageous and pushed the home right of their budget. So we continued on our quest.

We located two other homes that were of interest to them and to their liking. The one at the top of the list was very nicely updated with all new flooring, cabinetry, appliances etc. This home was like new! So we make an offer. We negotiate back and forth and we are at the top of my clients budget. They cannot budge another dollar without becoming prisoners in their own home. The seller is stating that he is at his rock bottom and we are now just a few thousand dollars apart but no one is budging. I had suggested to the listing agent that if both him and I reduce our commission a tad would this make the seller more agreeable and the agent acted as though this was out of the question. I thanked the agent for his time and had to call my clients with the bad news.

So I call and speak to the husband and we decide to move on the second of the two that were at the top of their list. I contact the listing agent and obtain the disclosures and she is wanting to "verbal" things until we come to a meeting of the minds.

About an hour and a half had passed at this time and I was preparing the offer for the second choice. It wasn't as nice but it was a little less expensive. I am speaking to the husband when I have another call come in from a number I didn't recognize - nor did my caller ID. So I tell the buyer to let me call him right back that I should take this call. Which is not something I would normally do when speaking with a client. I would normally let it go to voicemail and call them back with I am off the current call. But my gut said take the call.

I take the call and it is the agent from the first home of choice! He stated that as long as him and I reduce our commission that the seller would be willing to take the offer!

Ok, now I'm in a precarious position with the second agent although there was not much more done than faxing of disclosures and a little bit of talk about terms.

Now, understand something about my buyers. The husband has a very, very, calm demeanor. His emotions NEVER, EVER, NEVER, change and he is very difficult to read as far as body language etc goes.

I call him back and tell him that the first property deal can get worked out after all and he exclaims with great emotion and joy "WOW! REALLY? THAT'S GREAT!" Now I was quite surprised by this because this was the first time I was able to get any emotion from this man and I even asked, "John, I have never heard you so excited and I can hear your excitement right over the phone."

John says, "You know why?". I said "No, please do tell!". Well, when I called to let them know that they deal was falling through on the first home and he broke the new to Angela (the wife) he told me that she was so disappointed that she broke into tears. She really wanted this home.

Now, she had left to go do some shopping at Wal-Mart and John said he wanted to call her to tell her the good news. So, I said that's great I will give the second agent a call back and let her know that we would not be moving forward with the offer after all. Uh oh! But what could I do?

Now the second agent was very upset with me. But I suppose she will get past that one day - or not. I apologized as best I could and thanked her for the fax, her time and efforts.

Now, I had negotiated that the seller pay 6% of the buyer's closing costs. So this brough the actual price down to just $2000 more than what the second home of choice would have been. No way they could update the second home as well as the first home with just that much difference.

But to make it even better the closing costs did not eat up the entire 6% and the lender was able to apply the difference and buy down another .25 % interest rate on the loan.

They got the home they wanted and at a good and fair price for everyone. Yes, I reduced my income a bit. But it made it worth it when I seen just how happy they were!

What a rewarding experience!

My very first listing was a FSBO. I'd had my license for about two months at the time. The house was located just down the street from my own house and I happened to drive by just as the owner put the sign in the yard, so I stopped and introduced myself. I figured he'd try it on his own for a few weeks, the way they usually do, but he called me the next day, and I took the listing three days later. He had wanted 103K for it; I put it on the market for $109,900 and had a full price offer in four days, after a ton of showings. The seller was a sweet, older man, ordained minister in some small denomination - this is Nashville, the Buckle of the Bible Belt; we've got a church on every corner, or so the saying goes - anyway, he was taking care of his grandson because his daughter was in prison, and he had just had, of all things - spinal surgery... he couldn't keep up the payments on his house and needed to get out before the bank foreclosed. We closed two weeks later, for cash, and he walked away clean, although I had to slash my commission to ribbons in order to avoid a short sale. Turned out he owed more than he thought he did... I was happy to do it, though. And because these things often come full circle, my latest listing is an older lady in the same situation, and we're doing it all over again, including the cut-rate commission. It's been eight days, and I'm supposed to be getting an offer today, so I'm crossing my fingers! The gorgeous, high-end listings and pre-approved, well-off buyers are great, but really, I got into this to help people, and those are the transactions and clients I remember.

I worked with a single girl, 24, who was responsible for her 17 year old sister and took care of her mom who had cancer and was very ill - in and out of hospitals.  She was just finishing university, had a full time job of 4 years and was old beyond her years.

We shopped and finally found something in her price range that was updated and in a great neighborhood.  You could tell she was a trooper but life wasn't turning out exactly how she thought it would have.

About 4 months later I received an email from her and it detailed how much her life had changed and how happy she is now.  Her mom is still sick but her sister is making fantastic life choices and has more confidence and trust in stability.  She herself is doing well with her career and feels they have a 'home' for the first time in ten years.  She reminded me we change peoples lives for the better and Real Estate is a noble career in the email.  She thanked me for being honest and shopping for a month to find the perfect house for her.

When I decide I hate everyone and this dod-eat-dog business I read her email.  She is an inspiration to me and I am glad I played a small part in her happiness.

What great stories! Now THIS is what I like to see over espresso starting my day!

During the hot market about three years ago, I was working with a young couple excited about buying their first home. They were approved for a 100% financing and did not have a lot of cash for their good faith deposit. I would watch every day for new listings and we would look at the homes within a day of going on the market...make offers on the ones they liked, but multiples would already have been sent from other buyers. We worked together for almost 6 months and must have made six or seven offers on different homes only to be told another offer had been accepted from another buyer that had a stronger financial picture. It was so frustrating for them and their continued dissappointment was heart rending.

Ready to give up, they remembered a "fixer" they had looked at previously that was in the area they wanted and they liked the floor plan. It was still available, but I thought it was overpriced for the condition it was in. We took another look at it...it needed a lot of work! It had been on the market way too long and I wanted them to make an offer for less than the listed price. They refused...they wanted to make a full price offer because they were afraid of losing the opportunity again. It was accepted and they were both thrilled to be in escrow.

This escrow was a nightmare! It was supposed to close in 45 days, but because of problems with the seller and the seller's agent, it took almost 60 days to close and almost fell out a couple of times. It took a lot of negotiation and patience with the needed repairs after the inspection and the seller was not easy to work with. I was able to get the seller to compensate my clients for some of the needed repairs he refused to do, but not near enough. The seller's agent was constantly late with paperwork and rarely returned my calls. My patience was worn thin, but my client's home was first on my mind!

When escrow finally closed...it was celebration time! They were so happy to have their own home and it was such a joy to see their faces when we entered it at the final walk through. Although it has taken time for them to get their home in shape, their home has since doubled in value and they are on their way with their American Dream!

I wish all the folks out there that lump real estate agents in with attorneys, car salesmen and snake oil peddler's would read this post and comments...

Just had another scenario wrap up today. The cute young couple who lost everything they had in the Greensburg, Kansas tornado a few weeks ago closed on their new house today. Well, it is far from new. I wrote a blog on them called "Perspective" about how nasty the place was and how them having gone through the tornado and loosing everything it looked great to them.

They have great plans for this nasty little repo and I can see them carrying it off. They have 2 little girls and just had a new baby girl 2 weeks ago so I am not sure how she will have time, but they were so excited at closing today you could feel it in the air.

I was feeding and rocking the new baby while they signed papers and they could not wait to get the key. Problem is now, I need to get them a closing gift of some kind and having nothing I am not sure what to give them. But I do know for a fact, it will be appreciated.