Standing in the Deep End of the Pool - How it Felt for Me to Sell a $3.4 Million Home

14 years ago

The other night, I took my two older kids swimming. My son is 10 and my daughter is 8. The neighborhood pool that we prefer to use is about a block and a half from our home, and it's usually not crowded, especially in the evenings, when we prefer to swim.

Last year, I remember that my son could almost stand up in the "deep" end of the pool, which is about 5 feet or so.

This year, one of the first things he did was to go stand on the drain and show me that he could still keep his head above the water.

"I'm not even on my tiptoes, Dad!"

It reminded me of my own youth, as I would gauge my height among my friends through the years. In my own case, I was the kid who was perenially in the middle of the back row for any class pictures (that's where they put the tall kids).

Perhaps more importantly, it reminded me of how I felt when I sold my first "luxury" home here in Austin, then my first million-dollar property. Later, in 2006, I sold a home priced at $3.4 million on Lake Austin. The same year, my business partner sold a property for over $4 million! We had made it - right?

Well, not exactly, but that was a really strong couple of years for us.

I finally felt like I was one of the "big kids", too! If my clients trusted me to help them to invest this much money on ANYTHING, I must be doing something right.

After watching many of the top luxury agents in Austin over the years, I finally could say that I was part of their ranks, at least in some small way. In fact, we sold a good number of homes in the seven figure range. Frankly, those days seem to have dried up substantially over the past year or so, but they will likely return at some point.

Here's the important part of this post:

Once you have achieved a goal, it becomes easier the next time around. You have already proven that you're capable, and it shows when you're dealing with clients. I have often said that clients can smell desperation, which I firmly believe to be true. Conversely, they can tell if you are comfortable in any given situation. I chose to cut my real estate teeth on higher-end homes back when I started in 1997. Consequently, I am not intimidated by any "normal" transactions these days (as if such a thing exists anymore).

I think the same ethic holds true for our industry as it does for just about any business - the first big achievement is likely the most difficult, partially because it is uncharted ground.

Think about these items for a second:

Stephen King has sold tens of millions of books - at some point in the early 70's, he sold the very first one
There was a time when Babe Ruth hadn't yet hit his first home run in the majors
Abraham Lincoln lost EIGHT elections before becoming President

I guess the point I am trying to make here is that everybody starts somewhere. Whether it is a luxury home, or a first-time home buyer, or a difficult loan, or your very first blog post, just know that it will get easier with experience. Dive in!

Thanks for reading!

Photos courtesy of leozaza and IceNineJon - found on Flickr.com.