I have received several emails from John, the realtor in Sedona, concerning properties that he thought would appeal to me. It has been almost three months since my visit to Sedona, but I have not been able to break free from work to go down there again. Then he sent me another email a week later. He was inviting me to their "Open House Weekend". It would take place in the middle of May, the 16
th
and 17
th
, to be exact. They had an abundance of snowbirds that were selling their properties at this time.
John and his associates had almost a dozen listings themselves, not to mention the other realtors listings that would be on the market for the first time on that weekend. It was going to be a special event. The realtors would put on a dinner buffet at a resort on Friday night to kick the event off. The rules were that the realtors could show their invited guests their own listings after the kickoff dinner, but they could not show any other properties until Saturday morning.
I thought this would be a great opportunity, so I book a flight and a room for the weekend. Then I call John to go over the details.
"Hey John, how are you doing?" I said.
"I am doing great. The weather is fantastic. It's not too hot yet. It should be a great weekend," John replied. "I've got an exciting weekend planned for you."
"OK, great," I said. "I have to leave Sunday night. I have a major business meeting Monday afternoon. Will we be able to see everything in that short of time? Saturday and half of Sunday does not give us much time, you know?"
"We can preview any of my companies' listings on Friday night, after the dinner. I have already scheduled times to visit the properties. I have a couple of fellow agents that want to see them also, so I figured we could all go together. If that is OK with you?" I stated.
"Sure. That works for me," I replied. "I'll see you Friday night at the dinner."
"Would you like me to pick you up at the airport?" John asked.
"I appreciate that, but I am catching a ride in my buddies' plane and with that comes a free rental car, so I should be fine," I said. "I'll see you Friday at dinner"
"OK, but if you need anything, you know who to call," John said.
"Absolutely," I said. "I'll see you soon."
Friday evening rolls around and I found John at the resort. This event was a little bigger than I had imagined. There was a mariachi band playing and a huge spread of a buffet, an open bar and the weather was perfect.
I grabbed a plate of salmon, a salad and a bowl of fresh fruit, a bottle of Modelo Negra and sat down at a table with John and a few of his colleagues. I was little over dressed, as I had on business casual, slacks, dress shoes and a jacket. Most people were in shorts.
John showed me the listings he wanted me to see tonight. He had six files, complete with pictures, maps and comps. The binders were color coded, as to what part of town they were in.
"Take a look at these, if you would and let me know what you think," John said. "I'll be right back."
Before I finished eating and looking at the listings, John returned to the table with someone else.
"Hey Keith, I'd like to introduce you to one of my colleagues. This is Javier or Javi for short. Javi this is Keith Williams," John said.
I stood up and extended my hand, "Nice to meet you, Javi. Keith Williams," I said, shaking his hand. Javi was a very ruggedly handsome guy. He was a little shorter than myself, black hair, dark skin, brown eyes and very fit. You can tell he was in the gym almost daily.
"Javi and I have been working together for the last month or so," John told me. "We have found that we can give better service to our customers this way. We both don't always show every listing together, but we try to as much as possible. Also, if something should come up and one of us can't be there, the other one can step right in very fluidly. It has worked out very well so far."
"Excellent. That sounds like a great plan," I returned.
"What do you think of the listings?" John asked.
"They seem to be pretty much what I am looking for," I said. "Do all of these have west facing backyards?"
"Yeah, pretty much. If the back isn't exactly west facing, it is open and will get almost the same amount of sunlight in the evening," John replied. "Can I get you anything else to eat or would you like to get started?"
"I could eat a whole other plate, but I won't. That salmon was excellent and the fresh fruit. Oh my gosh. I wish we had that where I am from," I said.
"If you guys will give me a few minutes, I will pull up my car and pick you up at the door," Javi said.
"OK, that sounds great. I'll show Keith around and make some introductions. We'll be out front in ten minutes," John said.
John showed me around the back of the resort and we ended up out by the golf course. The sun was starting to set and the colors were magical. There were several golf carts full of beer and John grabbed one for each of us.
"Cheers," John said. "It is really good to see you again. I am not sure how long it takes you to get ready, but man. You look great. You definitely know how to use that blue jacket to bring out your eyes."
"Well, thanks. I appreciate that and you don't look so bad yourself," I returned. "We will have to come back here and play a round of golf one day. You do play, don't you?"
"You know I do," John said. "We had better make our way to the front. Javi is probably waiting on us."
We walked out front, jumped in Javi's Explorer and off we went. The Explorer was black with totally blacked out windows. It was really nice. We had only driven for a few minutes before we arrived at the first listing.
We all got out and looked. It was nice, maybe a little too nice. I didn't take too long to look around. We jumped back into the Explorer and checked out two more listings. They were nice and I was trying to keep the listings straight. I asked John for the files he had put together and jotted down a few notes on each of them.
When we arrived at the fourth listing, something seemed familiar.
"Did we see this one the last time I was here, John?" I asked.
"No. Although we did see one that was just down the street," John replied. "This one has almost the same layout as the one we saw last time, but the backyard is facing south, which to me, is what you want here. Plus, it is at the very end of this cul-de-sac, so privacy is golden. Let's go take a look."
About that time, my phone rings. It is my wife.
"Hey babe, how's it going?" I ask. After a little chit chat, I tell her that we are looking at some listings right now. "Yes, we get a sneak peek before tomorrow. OK babe, I'll call you tomorrow and yes, I'll Facetime you if I find one I really like."
While Javi was telling me about this listing, we walked around the east side of the front yard and checked things out. Javi tells me that a prominent builder in this area built this for himself. So it has some unique features. I walked back to the street and checked out the front view of the property. It was very nice and was sitting on a nice big lot. There was more than enough space between the houses. So far, so good.
We all walk inside. Wow. This is really nice. It has a big entryway that opens up to a big living room and a nice sized open kitchen. There are eight custom eight foot sliding glass doors that open to the outside, allowing for breath taking views to the outside. I walk out of the doors to the west and there is a ledge and below that is a pool -- or more like a grotto. It is tucked away between two giant rocks. It has the ultimate in privacy.
John shows me the south side of the outside area. There is another pool. WOW. What a place. There is a fifteen feet roof overhang around the whole house -- even the front. Before we are done looking at the backyard, Javi shows up with three more Modelo Negra's. We walk inside and Javi shows me to the door just off of the kitchen. He opens the door and say's "you first."
I start down the stairs, not sure what to expect. "This must be the way to the pool," I blurt out.
