Lisa and I connected after her real estate agent said, “Call Rose!”
Lisa bought a second home for retirement. She needs a property manager to curate the place until she moves in.
“This home has everything I am looking for,” Lisa told me on the phone. “I can see from the window the church I’ve been going to for over 40 years. It has a huge balcony overlooking the park. The stores are within walking distance.”
She couldn’t stop talking about it.
“I’m not ready to move in yet, so I need to rent it out. But I don’t know anything about dealing with tenants. I want somebody who really knows what she is doing so I can stay out of it.”
I like Lisa already.
This home is located close to downtown, in an area I usually shy away from.
But Lisa intrigues me.
As I drove away from my usual neighborhoods—Del Mar, Carmel Valley, Rancho Peñasquitos—I thought about myself ten years ago, when I first started my company. I would drive anywhere, take any property and sign up any landlord who would give me a chance.
That’s how you build a business.
There were many conflicts. Some landlords expected tenants to live with broken appliances and plumbing. Others wanted to cut my management fee in half, while brushing off the value I provided as trivial. Many insisted on saving a few bucks by hiring uninsured vendors.
One day, I made a decision.
I would no longer accept every landlord who called. From that day on, I interviewed them as carefully as they interviewed me.
As I got closer to downtown, I noticed a few homeless people and storefronts with boarded windows. Then the streets opened up.
Slender palm trees lined on both sides of the road. The sky seemed brighter. Instead of towering office buildings, I saw elegant five and six story buildings with stylish balconies and beautifully maintained facades.
This wasn't the downtown I had pictured in my head.
“Where do I park?” I called Lisa.
“I’ll have my husband come down and open the garage for you.”
A few minutes later, I spotted her husband.
Matt was standing in front of the garage, waving at me. He is freakishly tall. Matt opened the garage door and I pulled in.
I drive a BMW X5. It is basically my second home. I probably spend more waking hours in that car than I do in my home. I always look for a big parking space. Today, there was none.
I looked at Matt. He already earned one point by coming downstairs and opening the garage for me. Time for the next part of this interview.
“Matt, can you park my car for me?”
“Sure, no problem.”
I watched as Matt folded himself into my driver's seat. The man is 6’8”. His knees were up against the steering wheel and his head was against the ceiling.
“He’s never driven a big car like this before.” Lisa whispered.
Matt pulled forward. Matt backed up. Matt turned. Matt straightened. Matt backed up again. Lisa and I held our breath as we watched Matt patiently and carefully maneuvering my car in between the trash bin next to the parking space and other cars around.
Matt passed the interview and the rest of the meeting was a breeze.
The home was as stunning as Lisa had described. I could see why she had fallen in love with this place.
As we toured the home, Lisa and Matt opened up about their family, their dreams and their retirement plans.
Before long, they weren’t talking to me like prospective clients. We were talking like old friends. Eventually, I gathered my things and got ready to leave. Lisa looked at me.
“Are you taking us as clients?”