Valuable lessons from an unfortunate real estate experience

Early in my real estate career, I represented a buyer and was walking the survey of the property we had in escrow to determine the boundary lines and to review for any encroachments. The lot was sloped so I crawled up a hill to look at the survey stakes, and I inadvertently kicked loose a small boulder hidden under some long grass. The boulder started rolling down the hill towards the neighbor’s house. I frantically tried to run down the hill to stop the boulder, but couldn’t catch up. The rolling boulder hit another boulder and dislodged it. Now, two boulders were rolling down towards the neighbor’s house. I tried to catch up with the boulders to prevent them from hurting someone, but there was no way of stopping them. Luckily, no one was hit, but the boulder did slam into a neighbor’s car. I immediately went to the neighbor’s home, apologized for the incident and paid several thousand dollars for the damage that was done to their car. At the time, I was younger and beginning my real estate career and did not have a lot of money to spare.

Fast forward several years, and I was referred to prospective clients to sell their home. I met with the sellers in the evening, and even in the dark, the home looked familiar for some reason. After meeting the sellers, we recognized each other, and I realized I was at the home where the boulders damaged the car. The sellers remembered me and let me know they appreciated how I handled the unfortunate situation. They gave our team the listing, and we successfully sold their home.

From this crazy real estate story, I learned several valuable lessons:

* Look out for potential rock fall issues when purchasing a home.

* Be careful when walking a property, as you never know what can be hidden under the grass (e.g., a hole, boulders, rusty nails, etc.).

* Do the right thing, and eventually, you will be rewarded. I am positive our team would not have obtained the listing if I hadn’t immediately notified the neighbor of the damage I had done to their car and paid for it.

* There is a silver lining to every cloud. This is just one of many crazy real estate stories that helped shape how our team conducts our business and how we lead our lives.

BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS REAL ESTATE ADVANTAGE REALTY
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EMAIL myronk@betterhawaii.com
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