It's been two months since Karen went back to school. I have had a bunch of lunches at the old boys club, but not a lot of luck. It seems a lot of Cohen's inside trader meetings are done last minute, and off the books. I have had Ezzie have everyone she can reach in the club know I am the only real estate agent they will use, and highly recommend me to everyone. I did get to one real estate loan officer for a large bank. I am hoping that pays off soon.
With Frank from the Christmas charity event and a few other listings I have picked up. I have cleared just under $400k on a little over $9million in real estate sales. I am at the Goldstar office, Shannon is curled up on a bed I have beside my desk for her. Ezzie was right. She can certainly train a dog. Shannon is awesome at this point. She is great with a ton of different commands, and best of all never fails to come to me when I call or snap my fingers.
Ron calls me into his office. Shannon looks up as I move. I hold my hand down, and she settles back down on her bed. He wants me to go to a first time home buyers seminar, to review what to expect when purchasing your first home. At first I am about to tell him to go fly a kite and have Ezzie fix the problem, but I stop myself. They might be first time buyers, but lots of smaller sales add up too. With Ezzie's help they will all only use me, and I will get my foot in the door at another banker. "No problem Ron. I will do it." I say happily.
Haha. He's not happy I am willingly doing it. "Ezzie, did he think I would be upset?"
"Yes Ben. He still thinks you haven't paid your dues." Says Ezzie.
I need to solve this Ron issue, but I will have to think it over. I don't want Ezzie over doing it if you will. I have to sit down and figure out the correct suggestions I want Ezzie to make with Ron. Knowing he is thinking like that makes me want to take Goldstar over from him, but I have a lot to learn before I do. He made 7 figures last year, by having other people sell houses for him. I want that, Hell I want 8 figures.
He adds to it. It's not just one seminar. It's one every Saturday for 6 weeks, March-April. WTF! I see Ron get some satisfaction from my surprise. I remind myself, more people for Ezzie to influence. "No problem Ron. Six seminars, means six times the houses for me to sell." I say.
"Sure thing kid." He laughs.
"Ezzie, in the past how many clients has he gotten from these seminars?" I ask her.
"He is lucky to get one every other week." Ezzie says.
"So Ron if you don't think I will get clients why do it?" I ask.
"It keeps the loan officer at the bank happy, and since he gave me very good rates on a mortgage I kind of owe him." He says.
"Ezzie, what good rate did Ron get?"
"Ben, it's an interest free loan. He and the loan officer are good friends." Says Ezzie.
Oh I bet they are. Thanks Ezzie. Lots to think about. I leave there and head over to my new townhome being built to take a look. I have been here twice since the actual building started, to have Ezzie make sure everyone gave 110% when at work. No slacking off, and no short cuts are taken. I want this done quickly. They are well ahead of schedule with any luck they will be done by the time Karen graduates. As I arrive they are putting up the presale sign with my Goldstar cell phone number I now have, and my email for an appointment. I smile to myself. When they all sell it will be just about $1.5 million. Best part is I will be screening everyone. No assholes in my neighborhood.
I can drive up to my unit now. Well partially built unit. I open the car door and give Shannon her free up command. She is free to explore. The foreman, John, sees me and waves as he walks towards me. "We are ahead of schedule. I need to know what tiles and cabinets you want for the kitchen and bath, if you want custom stuff and not generic." He tells me.
"Shit." I mutter. I forgot about it.
"I need it Monday. So if I need to I can order it and get it here in time for your cluster of condos to be done first." He says as he kneels down to pet Shannon. He seems to love dogs. "Hey I was thinking. If you want I can get a real nice doggie door installed beside the slider so she can go in and out of the yard as she pleases."
"Great idea. How much?" I ask.
"Nah, no worries. It's all on the materials budget. This girl makes me smile every time you stop by." Says John.
"Thank you John. That would be great. You will be seeing more of us, now that the presale has started." I say.
"Yeah, the trailer is coming later today, we will set it up over there." John says point to the wooded side of the property out of the way of construction. "And we will keep in front of it clear for parking."
"That's great John. Thank you again." I say. He stands up, we shake hands and he heads back to work. I pat my thigh with my hand and Shannon walks with me as I walk around. All the foundations are poured so you can see where all the buildings will sit. As you walk away from my unit at the top the amount of work done lessens. I do a loop around the neighborhood and hop back in my car.
I call Karen. I know she got out of class about 20 minutes ago. "Hello, this is Ben's fiancΓ©. How can I help you?" She answers.
"Well you could say you have no plans this weekend so we can sit down and pick out tile, cabinets etc for our new home." I say.
She squeals in delight. "Yes. Yes. Yes. I can come home Thursday after my morning class."
"Well I was going to head up there." I say.
"No, I want to see our house." Karen says.
"It's not much honey. It's getting the outside sided now, but most of the inside is still drywall and studs." I warn her.
"I want to see it, Ben." She pleads.