“The Windows of Opportunity”
Publisher's Letter
April 28, 2014
By P.R. “Randy” Cooney
Publisher, Arizona Journal of Real Estate & Business
In last month’s edition of the Journal, I wrote a true story about a sale entitled the “Candy Dish Deal.” The story your about to read is a spin-off from the Candy Dish Deal. If you have not read last month’s article, I certainly recommend it however, NOT necessary to enjoy this one.
I vividly recollect this story of many years ago. It all begins with a simple call to a seller to set an appointment to view his Paradise Valley home with my out-of-town buyers. Upon reaching the seller, he explains some details about his home, one of which is the location and that it is very close to Tatum Boulevard. The prospective buyers have made it very clear, from the get-go, that a location anywhere near a busy street was not an option. So I proceed to explain to the seller that although his house sounds wonderful, the buyers would likely not wish to view it, given its close proximity to Tatum Blvd. The seller then offers-up another possibility of a property that his wife was remodeling. This property is a mile away from his home and would likely be going on the market within the next six months. Although my buyers need something sooner, I decide to reach out to his wife to preview the property. When contacting his wife, Jean, we have one of those very friendly & fun conversations. She mentions that her sister Karen and her have undertaken their first “fix and flip” project. Jean was happy to have me stop-by to preview the property even though it was not market-ready.
So a few days later, I find myself in a rehab property over-looking Paradise Valley. The two sisters, Jean and Karen, make it very clear to me that when the property was completed they were planning to go on the market as a “For Sale By Owner”, due to limited profit margins. They do, however, agree to allow me to show it to my out-of-town-buyers.
My buyers elect not to purchase the home primarily due to the lot configuration and the abundance of windows throughout the house. However, I decided to continue to stay in contact with the two sisters, under the assumption they might eventually seek the professional services of a broker to assist them in marketing their soon to be “fixed-up” property.
Nearly every week, I schedule a time to drop by to view their progress and occasionally offer a suggestion. A couple times, I brought them lunch as they were both working feverishly to complete their remodel. Four months later, Karen and Jean are nearly done and they mention that their last task would be cleaning the windows, which given all the windows would be no small task. I wanted to surprise the hard working sisters, so a few days later I show up with not only lunch, but with Windex and rags in hand. Contrary to the old adage “I don’t do windows” I find myself cleaning windows. Needless to say, Karen & Jean are impressed with my spending time to brighten the windows and most importantly their day.
A week later, Jean and Karen make a surprise visit to MY office with lunch. They inform me that they have decided NOT to go FSBO. Instead, they want to enlist the brokerage services of their favorite window cleaning agent, ME!
It gets much better, remember the husband at the top of this story and the initial property I called to preview. His property now expired and he and his wife Jean thought I should list that home as well. So in time, I end up selling both properties and as luck or karma would have it, I sell three additional properties from holding Open Houses at the “I do windows” listing. Hence the title: “Windows of Opportunity”.
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