I had been looking to buy a house for quite some time. I was pretty successful in sales and marketing with a large firm, and I felt it was time to move from the apartment I'd been in for almost four years, to finally buying something I could own and do whatever I wanted with. I had mentioned this to one of my clients, as we sat at the dining room table of his own new home, discussing a series of radio commercials I was designing for his well known HVAC company.
"I love the layout of this house." I remarked. "I'm looking to buy one myself."
My client, named Branson, nodded and smiled.
"Thanks." he replied. "I had a great real estate agent! She'll be able to set you up with something, I'm sure. She has the fastest sales rate of anyone in the area. If you want to sell a house, she's the one to go to. If you want to buy a house, again, she's the one to go to. You should give her a call, Jack."
"Hmm," I said, my interest piqued, "do you still have her number?"
"Sure do!" Branson said enthusiastically. "In fact, I have a couple of her business cards."
He fished one out of his wallet and handed it to me.
"Here you go, Jack. Her name is Danielle. Give her a call, and give her my name and the reference number on the back of the card. Tell her I referred you. It's important."
"You getting a finder's fee or something?" I inquired.
"Something like that." he remarked with a smile.
"Isn't that rebating?" I mused. "I mean, she sold you the house and then gives you money for each potential client?"
"You can call it whatever you want." Branson replied. "I'm not complaining. Neither will you if she adds you to her referral service."
So on that note, I called her out of sheer curiosity.
"Hello, this is Danielle." a sexy voice greeted me. "How may I help you today?"
"Um, yeah... hi Danielle." I managed to mumble. "My name is Jack, and I'm looking to buy a house. My friend Branson said I should call you."
"Oh yes! He's such a dear. He sends me referrals all the time. We have a great business relationship. What are you looking for?" she asked.
"Something out of the suburbs; maybe rural... three bedrooms and a shady yard. I dunno; I'm not quite sure." I replied. "I'd like a garage too." I added.
"Okay, is this for you or a family?" she queried.
I really didn't see what that had to do with anything, but she was recommended, so I assumed it was part of weeding out different homes.
"Just me." I said casually. "No Mrs. Jack yet."
"I understand. Hmm, I may just have something that works for you." Danielle responded. "It just listed yesterday. It's a split level in the country, with three bedrooms and a garage. Two acre lot with an open front yard and several nice old walnuts and pecans out back. Comes with an outbuilding too, for storage or a small workshop. It's reasonably priced too, and I have exclusive sales rights to it. No one else can show it for thirty days."
I got excited immediately. I had no idea there might be something that fit my needs already on the market.
"What does your schedule look like this week?" she inquired.
"Wednesday is wide open." I said. "Would that work?"
"Hang on a sec, Sweetie." she answered. "I think I have a showing in the afternoon - yes I do - but I could meet you around, say... Eight-ish. Would that be okay?"
"That would be great!" I exclaimed.
Danielle gave me the address, and I arrived about five minutes early on Wednesday morning. To my surprise, she was already there. I parked next to her on the gravel driveway and looked over at her. She was on her phone but gave me a one-handed wiggly fingers wave in response. She had dark hair and looked to be around 27 or so, and pretty attractive. I glanced at the house and was impressed. It was not what I had imagined at all; it was larger than I had expected for a split level, and was shaped like a boomerang, with the garage and bedrooms on the left, while the ground floor wing was on the right.
I heard Danielle's car door open, so I exited my own vehicle. I stared in her in surprise, as I rounded the front of her car. To my astonishment, she was wearing a bathrobe and a pair of slippers! How incredibly unprofessional this was! I rationalized that maybe she was running late or something and didn't want to make me wait, but I was still in need of an explanation. If I showed up at a potential client's house in my bathrobe, I'd lose the contract, and most likely my job as well.
"Good morning, Jack!" she said pleasantly. "I'm Danielle. I'm so sorry for my appearance, but I overslept and I didn't want to put you behind. It's so nice to meet you!"
"Um, uh... okay." I managed to stammer. "It's nice to meet you too."
Something about her didn't make any sense. She had overslept, yet she was showered and wearing makeup. She couldn't take an extra few minutes to get dressed? I didn't have time to wonder for long, however.
"I think you'll just love this place!" Danielle exclaimed, as she motioned for me to follow her. "It will fit your needs I think, with enough room for family expansion should you follow that route. Let me show you the yard first, as long as we're already out here."
She certainly had a strange way setting up a sale, but I shrugged and followed her out back. Branson had highly recommended her, and he ran a successful business, so...
"The house sets about a third of the way in, so you have about a half-acre out front." Danielle informed me. "The rest is this gorgeous back yard. You can get a few hundred pounds of nuts from these trees each year if you can keep the squirrels at bay. There are some local markets that will buy them from you. You can make a few extra bucks if you want."
"Cool!" I replied. "Looks good so far. I'd like to see the inside now."
Danielle smiled.
"Will do." she said with a slight purse of her lips. "I think you'll like the inside view even better."
We went back around to the front door, and Danielle opened it. It was already unlocked, so she must have been waiting for me for a while before I arrived. We stepped into the massive living room, and once again, I was impressed. It had a nice fireplace, with wood beams across the ceiling. It was a bit much for a single guy, but it had a lot of potential if I ever had guests or family over, or met that special someone. She closed the door behind us and locked the knob. I wondered about that action too.