If you have worked in real estate long enough, you have stories. Good stories, horror stories and funny stories. As my husband would say, you have “stories about the stories”.  With the refi business booming right now, I thought those in the know would appreciate me sharing one of mine.

When you work in real estate you know there will be some late nights, last minute closings and plenty of hoop jumping. While you know you are going to have to jump, it’s still nice when someone says thank you. Especially when you get the following call at the end of a VERY busy month.

My receptionist popped her head around the corner of my door with wide eyes and a panicky look on her face. “The Senator’s office (not Virginia) is on the phone and they need to talk to you NOW!”

Who gets a call like that during the last week of the month when at least five closings already scheduled for that day? Didn’t we donate to that campaign last month? No, they didn’t want a donation. They had buyers camping on their lawn because they were homeless until they closed on their new purchase and wanted me to take care of it immediately. That was a call I had to take.

Needless to say, the buyers hadn’t planned their move very well and subsequently had parked their moving truck and camper in front of the government building because they wanted their Senator to make their closing happen. They had called the Senator’s office repeatedly, demanding they be taken care of as good tax paying citizens. It didn’t matter that no one had said it was OK to close. Not their lender, not their agent, and certainly not their closing agent. They were told 15 days to close (not necessarily from a reliable source) so they demanded they close in those 15 days. Because it was a government foreclosure they were buying, it was somehow the Senator’s responsibility to make that happen.

Their headache became my headache. I called mobile notaries, realtors, lending processors, and closing attorneys just to name a few, and called in every favor I had. In between, I updated the Senator’s assistant. By 9pm we finally had the buyer’s closed. My settlement officer called me as they were getting into their car to let me know and I passed the message on to the Senator’s office.

The Senator’s assistant said “I don’t know how you just made that happen, but I appreciate it more then you will every know. They have left the lawn! We owe you one.” Too bad I can’t really collect! LOL! I did, however, pass on the thank you to everyone that helped me get the closing done.

I have always thought someone owing me a favor was much better than the other way around, and that a thank you should always be given to those that help. I don’t know what happened on the assistant’s end of things, but I will never forget the relief in her voice when it was done. Hoop jumping accomplished!

(Quick note: Names and some identifying information has been left out for privacy reasons.)

I am sure there are more stories out there! We would love to hear one of yours!