Cut Your Losses

I spent the rainy, stormy weekend last week, tackling a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle with mounting frustration. Normally, I breeze through these things, having grown up in a household where we almost always had a puzzle set up in the corner of the living room for most of my young life. (It was as close to Europe as my family ever got.)
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Not this time.

This particular puzzle of a well-known Serrat painting, had, essentially, only two defining puzzle shapes. In other words, every piece fit into multiple spots. Consequently, I found myself removing, replacing, and resetting nearly as many pieces as I was successfully placing, as I slowly, SLOWLY(!) slogged along. Not good and NOT fun.

"Been there done that," my sister said. "You'll spend weeks on the damn thing that you can never get back. My advice is that you cut your losses now before you lose more time." (Sometimes you just need a reminder that not all journeys are equal.)

Neither are all houses — nor all clients — nor all Realtors®.

She's right, of course. I was losing my eyesight, my mind, and my patience with an activity that I usually enjoy; one that often brings me a moment of respite in an increasingly busy world.

Listen, I don't mind "busy," I was trained to be productive, but I am reminded that there are projects and situations we go into with trepidation, hoping things will improve over time only to discover that they don't (kind of like a bad movie that you suffer through until the end. Walk out!) In my experience, transactions that start off on the wrong foot, rarely ever correct themselves midstream, and frankly, life is too short. None of us is required to continue down a bad road, or suffer through a challenging relationship.

But to be fair, buying or selling a home is a highly emotional journey that often puts people under huge amounts of stress. Therefore, it's not unexpected that the process isn't exactly conducive to "Zen" moments. (Forgive the double negative.) Even so, Agents and clients need to trust and count on one another. What's more, given the speed of the average Bay Area transaction, we have very little time in which to do so. To put it bluntly, if you're not feeling secure and supported from the get-go on either side of the transaction, it's time to move on.

So interview a few Agents, clarify your expectations, understand what each side brings to the equation, do your homework, and then choose the right "fit," with the understanding that your Agent is doing the same thing. (We don't want to represent you if it's going to be an uphill battle or it's not our area of expertise.) Although you're hiring us, this is a two-way street that relies heavily on communication, good intentions, and faith. Put more succinctly, all the pieces need to fit together nicely in order to successfully complete the picture.

How can we help you?