I wanted to share the power of trust relationships and how going that extra mile hopefully makes you stand out from the rest of other people in your trade.

As you recall, names were drawn at random at the meeting because we did not have a guest speaker. My name was drawn as were several others. Here’s my story……

In attendance at the luncheon was Don Gurney along with Melissa. I mentioned that in addition to handling the typical purchase and refinance closings, we also handle deed only requests. Don Gurney had a client he sold a house to several years ago call him to say her husband just passed away at the end of November and she wanted to make sure her youngest son was able to be on title when she passed. Don remembered what I mentioned and called me this past Thursday with the circumstances and the referral. I had a discussion with the customer and secured the information necessary to have our office prepare what’s called a life estate deed. We prepared that the next day and I called the customer today Saturday 12/9/23 to make an appointment. Her son also needed to be in attendance so I suggested that I could come to her home to execute the documents. The son is a technician on call this weekend so he was ok with this arrangement.

I arrived at the home, secured the necessary documents needed to proceed (id’s and a copy of the death certificate) and executed the transaction.

Come to find out, this family has two chihuahuas and one looked like one of mine. They came from the same breeder Jackie Listman. We spoke of her and the dogs and I mentioned we do refinances. Her other son is watching the rates and wants to refinance from his current rate. She’s going to have him call me for that.

Attending the meetings and clearly telling other PBA members what you do and what you seek can get you a recommendation. In the case of C21 Don Gurney, they are an absolute great client and referral source that works both ways. Not only have I received recommendations from them, but I’ve sent customers to them when I can as well. Unlike some other brokerages in this area, they don’t have an affiliated title company. I strive to do more than my “in house” competitors who are spoon fed work because the broker has a financial interest in directing the consumer to their owned/affiliated title company.

I called Melissa earlier to thank her but I copied Don Gurney here on this note because he thought enough of me to recommend this client during this most difficult time for her.