Pleasantly surprised to be dealing with a good agent

I hate to say this, but I guess I've grown accustomed to mediocrity in our business.  Below average is often the norm.  It seems like most tranactions that I've handled over the past year or two have been with agents that seem less-than-interested in making a good impression, or even in making the deal work.

The past couple of weeks, I've been very pleasantly surprised to be dealing with a broker who is, simply put, easy to get along with and pleasant. Why is that a surprise, rather than business as usual?

I've been to a good number of real estate conventions and gatherings over the years, and the people I meet almost always seem amicable enough, friendly and outgoing.  There's really no reason to think that they would be difficult when conducting business, but for some reason, these friendly folks turn serious and inflexible when there are sales to be made.

Dealing with this particular broker (whom I may name later, once the deal is funded) has been a breath of fresh air.  He is invariably upbeat yet laidback, which is probably partially just his personality and partly from his own experience as a business owner dealing with hundreds of transactions over the years.  We work well together, and it barely even seems like work.

One of the biggest differences can be expressed in one word: COMMUNICATION

When I call him, he is available or quick to respond.  I give the same courtesy to him.  Thankfully, I haven't felt he need to screen his calls, because he doesn't belabor every point, and he's not rude in expressing them. I would actually recommend that his clients use him again.

Along with this good agent/broker I've been fortunate to have terrific, motivated clients on both sides of the deal.  No drama.  No weird personalities. No odd requests at the last minute.

Kinda feels like 2006 again.