09/16/2026
This is my office today.
Iāve spent the entire day sitting in a mechanic shop while my car is being diagnosed and repaired.
And strangely enough, somewhere between answering emails, combing through the MLS, talking with buyers and staring out the window at the repair shop across the street, I had one of those moments where life puts two completely unrelated things side by side and suddenly theyāre not unrelated at all.
About a month ago, I took my car to that shop across the street.
I explained the problem. They recommended an expensive repair. I specifically asked, Are you sure this is what is causing it? Because I cannot spend this kind of money fixing something that isnāt actually the problem.
I was assured it was.
It wasnāt.
When the problem continued, I was then told it was something else, something considerably more expensive, and that I was looking at thousands more to repair it.
So I left.
Today, I finally carved out the time to bring my car somewhere else. After spending the day here, I have an actual diagnosis. The repair still isnāt fun, because apparently cars have no respect for budgets š, but itās under $1,000 instead of several thousand.
And that steering rack I was told needed to be replaced?
Itās completely fine.
So there I sat, looking across the street at the business that had already gotten quite a bit of my money, thinking about how easily a business can choose the transaction over the relationship.
And at almost exactly the same time, I was on the phone with one of my buyers talking about a $3.4 million home she is considering purchasing.
And I was telling herā¦
I donāt think you should buy it.
Could we write an offer? Absolutely.
Does the house check enough boxes that we could justify it? Sure.
But Iāve listened to her since the day I met her.
I know what she told me she wanted from this second home. I know what matters to her. I know the way she has reacted to other properties.
And most importantly, I remember her face walking through this one.
It wasnāt her house.
Thereās a look people get when we walk into the right property. Sometimes they try to be practical about it. Sometimes they start pointing out flaws because theyāre afraid to get excited. But you can feel it.
I didnāt feel it from her.
And I would rather keep searching with her than watch her spend $3.4 million on a home that is āfine,ā only to realize six months or two years from now that she settled for something that was never really what she wanted.
Sitting in this mechanic shop today, the irony of those two conversations wasnāt lost on me.
One business had the opportunity to take care of me and chose the transaction.
At the same time, I had the opportunity to chase a very large transaction and chose my client.
And maybe thatās the simplest explanation of how I want to build my business.
I donāt want a client for one closing.
I want to be the person you call five years from now because you know Iāll tell you the truth, even when the truth doesnāt make me a dime.
Because the commission is the result of the relationship.
It should never be more important than the person on the other side of it.
