The Good Guys: First in a Series
I thought, “Ok Sandy”, you are 61 years old and have been in the real estate business for 40 years. Who could possibly believe that. There is always frustration and consternation. There are always successes and failures. There are always the stellar people we work with, and then there are the not so stellar. In any field of endeavor, if you focus on the negative, it truly will eat you up, so, I have decided to “cameo” individuals who have been the root cause of my lasting 40 years. Those that have made a lasting positive impression on my life. “The good guys”….To mean both male and female.
Bill and John Morris of JJ Morris and Sons. Bill and John were brothers and 3rd generation, interior finish contractors. By now, JJ Morris and Sons could be 5th generation. Not that I have aged, everyone else has! Bill and John Morris were fixtures at Tambellini’s Southern Avenue and later Route 51, at lunch time. Many of my meetings with Bill and John Morris were at Tambellini’s, which was a great place to go for lunch. You could call people for 3 days and not hear back, then run into them at Tambellini’s and talk to them for a half-hour.
I did a great deal of real estate work for Bill and John Morris. Two men that negotiated hard and when negotiations were over, they made a deal, and no paperwork was necessary.
Bill and John, were always honest and fair to everyone. I will always remember that building up on Polish Hill they owned, I Leased it to the mannequin company, and the sign that hung for so many years, the shape of a nude mannequin. After Bill passed away, I worked with John on the sale to Steve Pepper of Peppers Polarized Eyewear.
I was so young and I said to Bill, “ I have never heard a bad word about you and John.” Bill said, “If you can be in business as long as we have, and there is one guy out there that thinks you’re a prince for every guy that thinks you’re a *****, then you have done really well.”
Sanford Pollock
Pollock Real Estate, Inc.
www.pollockrealestateinc.com
(412) 288-9441