Buying First Class

Buying First Class

I’ve flown with some great real estate agents in my 15-year career, but certainly one who deserves a primo seat at the front of the plane has got to be Westlake Village, CA, agent Teri Pacitto of RE/MAX Olson and Associates.   Teri and I have completed a good number of transactions since our inauspicious start in early 2013, but whether she’s represented a buyer or seller, I’ve observed a few things that make Teri stand at cruising altitude above most of her peers.  I would even say these attributes go so far as to slip the surly bonds of real estate and speak to every profession where service excellence matters.  This is precisely what has compelled me to take off on my journey here. 

But first, please fasten your seatbelts and make sure your tray tables are in the upright and locked position....

All of us, at some time or another, have found ourselves in a business negotiation where the financial efficacy of the deal becomes opaque.  Though we squint painstakingly at the equation of effort in versus compensation out, we can’t help but think that maybe this is the time we ought to cut our losses.  I met Teri on just such a transaction, and I happened to find myself in the position to help her get it unstuck.  Within the first moments of our first conversation, which in any other setting might well have been a confrontational one, we were on the same page and knew the deal would get done.  The three points below, all of which Teri personifies, were largely the reason why: 

A Solutions-Oriented Attitude

If you want to piece together anything complex, you better have access to, and ability to use, a lot of tools.  In fact, why not make everyone and everything an extension of your problem solving abilities?  Teri has done this on every transaction to which I’ve been party.  Whether she’s representing buyer or seller the tactic is the same.  It’s not “How can I get what I want from this person?” it’s “How can this person help us get what we all need?”  If you, as the listing agent, can recruit the help of the lender to ultimately produce the outcome that the buyer desires, but cannot effectively convey, you are getting the idea.

Resources and Resourcefulness

Teri has the mindset and means to make stuff happen.  I’ve seen Realtors refuse to part with $500 to break an impasse on the road to a $10,000 commission.  Some might say they drive a hard bargain.  Others would say they have hard heads.  Frankly, I think some of these same agents don’t have a hard, red cent --- they are operating out of scarcity.  Not Teri.  Back in the days when lenders actually had some degree of flexibility and discretion over the credits we could give, I recall covering a lot of lock extensions, paying for a lot of things that went wrong and that weren’t necessarily the fault of the client or me.  I didn't necessarily like doing it, but you know what?  The deals got done.  The clients went away happy.  Often, they later referred a colleague, a friend, a family member.  Like me, I would be willing to guess that Teri’s prospects don’t materialize out of the rarified air at 35,000 feet.  More likely they sprout from a farm she has long and carefully cultivated by putting first things first and not losing sight of the value of a client over the value of a commission check. 

The Crew Will Be Coming Through the Cabin...

Regarding top-producing agents, how many times have we heard, in real estate, others lamenting that, “Well, if I had that team of people working for me, I could do $X amount of business too!”  OK, fine.  Then go build your team, right?  The problem is, when confronted with this decision, wherever in a career it is faced, only a handful make the leap and take on the responsibility and overhead.  Aviation has its "escape velocity” and so does our industry.  But the fact is, to do a lot of business, and to do it well, you need great help.  On the other hand, we also appreciate that no client wants to be “handed off” to an assistant.  That’s where the real pipeline management and people skills come into play.  Available staff?  Check.  Ability to delegate?  Check.  Tact in abundance?  Check.  Teri has long since been cleared for takeoff.

Finally, did I mention that my office is 402 miles, as the crow flies, from Teri’s?  I know that if we can work together as effectively as we do and as we have now on many transactions AND despite the distance, any buyer or seller in Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Lake Sherwood, Hidden Hills, Calabasas, Moorpark, Newbury Park, and Simi Valley, can be well-served by the Teri Pacitto Group.  

Both when flying and buying real estate, you put your future in the hands of another.  My advice: Choose your professional wisely and go first class.

Rob Spinosa
Executive Loan Advisor
NMLS: 22343 CalBRE: 01297944
Cell: 415-367-5959 Fax: 415-366-1590
[email protected]    www.rpm-mtg.com/rspinosa 
1058 Redwood Highway, Frontage Road, Mill Valley, CA 94941 

RPM Mortgage, Inc. – NMLS#9472 – Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the Residential Mortgage Lending Act. Equal Housing Opportunity.