The ultimate vote of confidence, a family referral

About four and a half years ago my phone rang. Although it was after 10pm I picked up as much out of curiosity as anything else. It was a gentleman, Dave, calling from California. He was interested in investment property in the area and had found my name on the Internet. After a short interview I was hired. He'd already found the property he was interested in and just needed his own agent to look out for his interests. We negotiated an offer to his satisfaction and I helped him with selection of an inspector and lender. The property appraised, we closed, and he was very happy with the result.

This summer I received a call from a family member of his in the area. This person was looking for a town home and had been given my name by Dave and urged to call me. I met with them and we looked ata few properties but the ones they had located just were not appealing to them. I searched the area and came up with a list of possibles. Among those there were several that interested them. Over the next two days we toured them and narrowed it down to two properties, then eventually down to one. A little back and forth later later and we had an accepted offer which closed on Friday.

In the process of inspection and closing I got to meet nearly everyone in their family. My former client even showed up. It seems that he had entered the industry and had become an agent in his home state. I was shocked and humbled to hear it because he hadn't even asked me for a referral although I would have readily agreed. That fact alone made me doubly determined to provide that highest level of service imaginable. The clients were demanding, but I was happy to oblige any request. In the end everyone was very satisfied and buyer and seller got along famously. I love it when that happens. They were happy enough with the way things transpired to also write me a recommendation to show their appreciation:

"Matt helped us locate and succesfully negotiate an offer on the town home and helped us further with the recommendation of a lender and home inspector. We were able to do all this from California with the help of Matt's referrals. Although we were out of state Matt was always just a phone call or email away. Every time I called Matt he answered his phone quickly and he always returned emails promptly.

We are extremely happy with the work Matt did for us and would recommend him to anyone purchasing a property in the Johnston, Iowa area. Matt was a reliable resource from beginning to end."

Diane W. 10/08/10