The Castle

This weekend I vividly remembered something that a friend of mine said before I got myself into real estate. The memory, and my friend’s words have followed me for the past couple of days. They have made me smile and nod secretly, as I truly related with what she was talking about…

Before I started my career. No, before I started my training to become a real estate broker, I met with all my friends that had been working in this industry, and succeeded. Everyone had their own story to tell. They were all encouraging as they were talking about their work. They all thought I would do well, and they all said I should take the plunge, but there was one conversation above the others. It was very honest and true, it was exactly what I wanted, the ugly truth.

She is one of the most successful women I have met. If she’s reading this, she will smile and think that I should stop flattering her – rubbish, she may say… But she is. She is one of those names the industry knows. She would deny it, but she truly is.

When I approached her, she asked me if I was serious. Well, actually I hesitated to approach her, thinking that she may find my thoughts silly and me being way out of my league, but I answered yes, I was serious. Her next question was, if I understood that to be successful, one would have to give up something most people took as granted, as most of my work would happen outside of the regular business hours, when everyone else did not work. And then, then she reminisced how it was for her when her children were young, and that is what followed me through these past few days. This is what she said: “I was gone all weekend, and when I finally found my way home after hours of work, I would be barking orders at my husband and children…”

Most weekends I work, but I don’t work for the entire weekend. I work a little bit here and there. Maybe an open house, maybe a tour to view homes with clients, but most weekends I have been able to make sure that there is also time for my family. It has worked well with some exceptions, and that was my plan for the past weekend too, before destiny started meddling with our lives.

It started with the incident at the Costco gas station on Friday, when I was on my way to meet with my clients to discuss their search, and to narrow it down a bit. I ended up being late from my meeting, and spending the first 30 minutes of it on the phone with my insurance company, as a young driver had been trying to get past me at the pump, and damaged my Volvo to the extent that I was no longer sure if it was safe to drive. After being late to my meeting, I understandably got home way later than I thought I would.

The following morning, instead of doing something fun with my kiddos, I drove to SeaTac to get a rental car so that I could take my clients out on the tour we had planned. The tour was in the books, the trip from Redmond to SeaTac was not. My family was running errands, picking up glasses and celebrating my boys’ classmate’s birthday whilst I was at work. A very productive and fun day for me though, lovely clients, that I have been extremely blessed to work with. But once again, didn’t get home before it was almost dinner time, and was faced by a hungry family when I entered through the door. I was stressed about the car, cranky after having had nothing to eat since early morning, and did not face my family with a smile, but instead barking those orders.

Sunday was supposed to be all about Mia and my friend’s daughter Louise. Louise is turning 7, and we had planned a party at the American Girl store with hair appointments and manicures for their dolls followed by lunch at the restaurant. Awesome! Finally I would get to make up being gone since Friday morning, but as I walked into the store I got a text from my wonderful clients that they wanted to make an offer on one of the homes we viewed. For me that’s the best news ever. My clients have found their true home, but in my daughter’s eyes I was no longer concentrating on her, but on my clients. Yes, I replied that I would get back to them in a few hours, but my brain was already working on tactics, and I have to admit, that I must have seemed quite preoccupied at very least, as I was eager to drive home and to start working on the offer.

At home I yelled for peace and quiet, for time to concentrate on how to make things happen for my clients, sending my children upstairs. I ended up working until way past everyone’s bed time that night.

I love my job. I love my family. But the past weekend reminded me of my friend’s words as I found myself concentrating on my clients instead of my family. Next weekend I will have time again. I will be present, and I will spend time with them. I will never be ready to give up all my weekends, but sometimes it is necessary. It paid off too, as my clients now have a new home, their dream home. The home that we called "the castle" along the process, and I have a feeling they will be very happy in their new house.