Client Appreciation Dinner Party - 2010

This past week, I held my annual, private Client Appreciation Dinner Party. To be invited to the party, invitees must have either referred me to a prospective client (closed transaction or not) or have been a recent client that I represented on a purchase or sale that closed escrow. So, you too, can be invited by referring someone you care about for expert advice on the purchase or sale of residential or commercial real estate.


As in the past, we had a dinner party at Midori Japanese Restaurant in Sunnyvale. The manager of the restaurant, Jeff, made sure we wouldn't go about disturbing other patrons by reserving their tatami room for us. Food was excellent and included a selection of tasty sushi and sashimi appetizers, soup, salad with miso dressing, a wide variety of entree combinations, dessert and beverages (including adult beverages).


Each invitee was allowed to bring an adult guest and those that attended received a gift bag with a wonderful bottle of Steven Bannus Russian River Sauvignon Blanc wine, bag of chocolate truffles from Harry and David's and a gift card to use on their next visit to Elephant Bar Restaurant. Each attendee was eligible for drawings of wonderful gifts from Crate & Barrel that were specially chosen and wrapped by my lovely wife, Carol.

A second special gold gift bag was presented to those that had referred someone to me and those clients had closed on a transaction. The gold bag included a bottle of superb Beaulieu Vineyard's BV Rutherford Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and their very own Passport Unlimited unrestricted gold membership card to save them money when dining at a great selection of fine restaurants!


Some of the invitees were attending their second or even third Client Appreciation Party!


The variety of invitees ran the gamut from first time home buyers to those referring prospective clients and came from as far away as San Francisco and included such occupations as a financial planning firm officer, architectural photographer, registered nurse, attorney, software engineer, residential mortgage and commercial loan professionals, insurance sales representative, stay-at-home mom, comedy club owner/operator along with my sons, David and Kevin, and wife, Carol. Just so you know -- she's my COO - Chief Organizing Officer! There were multiple, interesting conversations going on up and down the table on a variety of topics.


Everybody had FUN and didn't go away hungry! I know this because absolutely nobody complained!


I can't wait to have another Client Appreciation Party because I get to thank some of those that are the heart of my business. And, getting close to Valentine's Day, it makes perfect sense!


Thanks for reading my blog!

Client Appreciation Party

This past week, I held my annual Client Appreciation Party. To be invited to the party, invitees must have either referred me to a prospective client (closed transaction or not) or have been a recent client that I represented on a purchase or sale that closed escrow. Currently, I have an annual party but my goal is to add an additional one as my business grows. So, you too, can be invited by referring someone you care about for expert advice on the purchase or sale of residential or commercial real estate or if you need a trusted real estate advisor.




This time we had a dinner party at Midori Japanese Restaurant (1066 E. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA 94087; 408-985-1000) in Sunnyvale. We were "holed-up" in the tatami room in the restaurant so we wouldn't be disturbed AND we couldn't disturb the "normal" patrons! Food was excellent and included a selection of tasty sushi and sashimi appetizers, wide variety of entree combinations, dessert and beverages (including adult beverages).



For the invitees, there were drawings for prizes available to those present -- you know those that must be present to win. The lovely gifts ranged from a pass to visit the Pavia Day Spa in Saratoga (12840 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, Saratoga, CA 95070; 408-741-1555; http://www.paviadayspa.com/) to lovely gift combinations that my creative wife, Carol, put together and wrapped so beautifully.






Each invitee was allowed to bring an adult guest and received a gift bag with a wonderful bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon wine, heart-shaped box of See's Candies chocolates and a gift card to use on their next visit to Elephant Bar (19780 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA 95014; 408-865-0701; http://www.elephantbar.com/).






A couple of the invitees were attending their second Client Appreciation Party in a row! A couple of interesting comments were:

• Ron, invited because he referred me to a prospective client, made a comment of how I was able to help him and his partners in their commercial transaction that saved them a lot of money; and,



• Gabriela, also invited due to a referral she made to me, said that she was suggesting to her in-laws that it was time for them to downsize from their very large home and was advising them to hire me to handle everything.

The variety of invitees ran the gamut from first time buyers to those referring prospective clients and came from as far away as San Ramon and included such occupations as a loan officer, banker, newspaper advertising representative, attorney, occupational therapist, software engineer and sales executive. Conversational topics ranged from high-tech to movies to travel.

Oh, I almost forgot! Everybody had FUN! I know this because absolutely nobody complained!

I can't wait to have another Client Appreciation Party because I get to thank some of those that are the heart of my business. And, getting close to Valentine's Day, it makes perfect sense!

Thanks for reading!

Why you should choose me to help you buy your next home

I work exclusively by referral. Working by referral allows me to focus on my clients and not on prospecting for other clients like most other agents do. My clients refer me to those that they know who are thinking about buying or selling a home or investment property. In this manner, fully 85% of my business is directly attributable to working by referral with the balance of my business derived from networking and website sources. I do no "smiley-faced", self-promotion type ads in newspapers, magazines or load your mail box with what are known as "farming cards" or as most call it -- junk mail!

How does working by referral benefit you? Simply by the fact that if I don't perform, you wouldn't think about referring anyone. Poor service or results would cause my business to vanish! Instead, I work for my clients before, during and after each transaction. In actuality, during 2007 my business continued to grow and amounted to my best year ever. Working by referral allows me to be careful as to whom I choose to work for. And, I'll be the first to tell you that we each have a decision whether or not to work with someone. I would caution you that it is critical to know the person you will entrust to advise and help you with what will probably be your largest monetary investment -- a home.

In California, we have what's known as "buyers agency". Buyers agency is simply that upon execution of a legal form, your chosen agent becomes your buyer's agent and works for you while legally being paid out of the seller's proceeds. Thus, there is no money out-of-pocket for the buyer when represented by a buyer's agency agreement. Going through an Open House, responding to an ad online or in the newspaper puts you in front of someone working for the seller who may not have your best interests in mind. Legally, they should be acting solely for the benefit of their principal as one of the four Fiduciary Duties that agents should honor. The other three are: to use skill, care and diligence; to be accountable; and, to disclose material facts.

My background consists of extensive, real-life experience in business, investments and finance with more than 23 years in corporate financial planning, analysis experience. My last position was a director of planning for a company which was purchased for $9 billion. This is important for my clients because it means I have a grounding in reality and can take a longer-term or investment approach to advising clients. Contrast my background with someone who might have sold shoes, computer chips, insurance policies and now homes. More than likely, they're looking for the next transaction. Please don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with selling -- I'm in sales, too! But before there is a transaction, I advise my clients of what is solely in their best interests -- whether or not it culminates in a transaction for me. I do a substantial amount of market research to uncover or spot trend changes to devise the appropriate negotiation strategy I advise my clients to use so that they accomplish their real estate goals.

A decision to purchase is always up to the client, in that manner, I don't sell, I advise. If you'd like to meet and get to know me better, please give me a call at 408-830-0092. Feel free to comment with your questions on:

• REO or foreclosure properties
• buying in areas still likely to have multiple offers (yes, there are some)
• TV unreality realty shows (show three and buy one)
• or, other real estate topics you have in mind.

Thanks for reading!