"Showings With Abe"

Sometimes people (and books!) come into your lives just when you need them. 

Recently, I spend two weeks looking at probably 25 homes with an out of town client. Abe is only just recently an out of towner, he used to live nearby until I sold his home last winter when he embarked upon retirement and did what you were supposed to do when you retire, he moved to Florida to be closer to his brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. We became friends when I sold his house, and I was sad to see him move across the country. 

Abe is a retired airplane engineer, originally from Lebanon and unfortunately, his wife passed away some time ago.  He is a straight shooter, charming with a good sense of humor, and he embodies characteristics that seem more and more rare: decency, honesty, and authenticity.  

So you can imagine my smile, when he called me up just 8 months later, and said, “Stephanie, I need to come back!” Since this is not a bag-on-another-state blog, I will just say that he missed California immensely and we started strategizing how and where he would find his next home.  We narrowed our search to homes with land, views and enough room for his family to come and visit. 

It was in our second week of showings together and I was driving, on a Tuesday which in 2021 has become the dreaded day in which you find out which buyers were successful in their bids for homes and which ones you have to call with bad news. This had been a very productive long weekend and I had 4 offers out for different buyers. Pinned by my steering wheel, I felt helpless as I received texts and phone calls dictating one loss after another.  That day I was the Queen of second place in a competition with no Silver Medal.  The final blow came when I received a phone call that my close friends had not won their dream home that I was sure was their house. 

“Are you ok?” Abe scrutinized me from the passenger seat. 

“Yes, of course.”  

“You don’t seem ok,” he said. 

Embarrassed at my lack of composure, I revealed that I was upset about having to deliver bad news to clients, how this competitive market was a struggle at times and I hated disappointing people. 

He turned again to me and said, “Stephanie, but why do you let this bother you? You cannot control it.  You must not worry about things that you can’t control.”  I let out a deep breath that I had been holding hostage. 

Ah, how simple. He was right, of course.  I had done everything in my power to help my clients and I was worrying about things I couldn’t change. 

“I used to get upset about things too but then I just had to let it go and I’ve been much happier,” he said.  He told me stories of growing up in Lebanon and how he came to be in the US. He shared about his parents, his late wife and his decisions in life. 

 For the rest of the day, I concentrated on our house hunting, was a little lighter and focussed my energy more positively.  That night, he texted two memes about happiness and positivity. Guess what?  With targeted follow up and visualization, my friend’s dream home came back to them.  And…my dear friend Abe found his dream home that week too. All of my clients who wrote offers that weekend soon ended up in houses they were meant to be in. 

As my Scottish mum always says, “Whits for yea 'll naer go bye yea”.