Juliet: The best deal ever

[Tal Levi]

Love wins

Everyone has their most successful deal. The one he/she is most proud of. The reasons can be different: a special deal, financial success or a deal that was hopeless and yet you made it work. Mine is a bit of everything. It is by far the most financially successful I have done, but was much more than that.

When I started searching for deals I was one in an office of 50-60 rental agents. The only one who made the switch from rentals to deal sourcing. For most agents the quick money of renting apartments was more appealing than sitting for hours in front of the phone, waiting months for a deal to come and the fruition of finding out at the last minute that it was not going through. But I made the decision, made the change and started searching. Among other efforts, I spread a rumor in the office that whoever finds me a good property that we will eventually buy, I will make sure to pay them. Out of 50 agents came one deal. THE DEAL.

Jorge was a nice guy who lived not far from the office. Every morning on his way to the office he passed by an abandoned house. Not a house, a monster. 9,000 square feet 4 family. That big. About 3 times the Brooklyn average. The house was chained for a long time and he drew my attention to it. A 9,000 sqft property is not something to be ignored, so of course I started looking for a landlord. I found the phone numbers and potential addresses and started dialing. Unfortunately I did not find the landlord, but was able to talk several times with his father who refused to provide any information. So what next?

Next was to schedule it in a diary and start dialing regularly until someone answers. But no one answered. Never. Months passed, deals came and went, but what was supposed to be the "deal" went nowhere.

But I did some progressed. I was successful, only it was just me more or less, so one day Shlomi, the big dog, caught up with me for a talk and suggested: we would set up another office just for the sake of deals sourcing. Get a team, manage everything and make us more money. The cost was on him, so of course I agreed. We set up an office, hired a team and life was good. But I did not forget “the deal". On the contrary. Now I can try even harder. I assigned one of the callers a task to call the property owner once a week. And she did. Only again no one answered. Until someone did.

It was Friday afternoon, two years into my one-way relationship with the "deal". I think at this point it's time to give her a name so we'll call her Juliet, I'll be Romeo for that matter. Let’s continue. Friday afternoon, two years into My one-way relationship with Juliet, I pick up my bag and passed by my team wishing them a great weekend before I go home. As I pass by the last caller, the one in charge of calling Juliet's owner I realize she's talking to him on the phone. After Two years of trying we made contact.

With all due respect to my team, such a conversation is not left to fate. Still we talking about Juliet. I asked for the phone and introduced myself, who I am what I am and what I want. He Was polite, showed interest in selling the property and we agreed to continue talking next week. Next week came and we talked, and we talked and talked. And a week became three months.

What did we talk about for 3 months? About all kinds. Business is relationships. And that's what it was. Building relationships. He Told me he bought the property with someone, there was a fraud and people went to jail. It was a difficult experience and he does not trust anyone. As a salesperson it is important to identify the client's need. And here it was easy. Trust. So we talked. A lot. I would on my headphones and walk around the block for 45-60 minutes each time. It was like this once a week for 3 months. Until one day.

Three months into the this dance I called Shira, my wife, with a statement. "Shira he is going to sell us his house," "How do you know?" She asked "did he tell you?". "No" I replied, "but today was the first time that at the end of the call he called me my friend." For me it was clear at that moment that it was only a matter of time. And I was right.

Shortly after the call we signed a contract. Following all the hustle and bustle he had the contract demanded the bank’s consent to the sale. The property was in terrible condition, the basement was flooded with 2 feet of water and a squatter lived inside. He guarded the house but also suffered from compulsive hoarding. The basement had an incredible amount of garbage, piles 9 feet high and had only two narrow paths.

So we had the contract and what remains to be resolved? an agreement that needs to be approved by the bank, an intruder, garbage and property in a catastrophic situation. Easy. An eviction process dealt with the squatter. He wasn’t happy but had no choice. Two garbage trucks needed for the cleaning and the property were purchased for $650,000. Only the renovation remains.

By this point I had already left and opened my own office. Jorge was long gone. Shlomi invested almost a million dollars in renovating the property and I was happy he receive a wonderful offer to sell the building for 4 million dollars. He went for it. Juliet has a new love.