Lunch with El Jefe

A few weeks ago I got an invitation to a designated broker appreciation lunch at the local realtor association. I hate stuff like this. But, in my quest to be more sociable, I asked El Jefe if he was going. He was, actually, my second choice but Mrs. Hufflepuff, though the owner of her company, is not the Designated Broker.

Anyway, El Jefe said "no way in hell. I have a life." And as far as I was concerned, Fate sealed my decision. I could pass on the whole ordeal guilt-free.

Two days after El Jefe turned this opportunity of a lifetime down, he changed his mind, and thought it might be fun. So, I was once again going. All this week, I intermittently texted him with messages like, "Are you sure you aren't changing your mind?" El Jefe knows me well enough to read that as, "I don't want to go, but you said you are and now I am stuck, so get me out of this nightmare," and not a question of his integrity.

El Jefe didn't change his mind.

The lunch was a bland carb-loaded, over-cooked pasta kind of catered thing, with the only good vittles being the ice tea. The company was good, as El Jefe and I sat by ourselves swapping war stories. He asked when I was taking Ronnie--his agent--my friend. I told him I wasn't and he was happy to hear it. He wanted to know if I have been active. Yes. Then, I found an agent with a buyer for a listing he has coming up. So, there was networking.

There were speakers, one of whom said something along the lines of, "there are a lot of challenges right now," 18 times from the moment I started counting. Another was an attorney who told a horror story that got El Jefe to snort ice tea through his nose and exclaim to the entire room, "Holy S***, does E&O (malpractice insurance) cover this?" To be fair, El Jefe only said what the rest of us were thinking.

And by the way, the answer is No. If a seller independently counters to two buyers and both buyers accept the counter offer, the seller has sold the house twice and there will inevitably be a lawsuit as one buyer will be seriously unhappy (the agent used the wrong form and not the form that would have covered this--glad it wasn't an agent under my brokerage).

There was also a designated broker in the room who asked questions that frightened everyone else, as they should be basic items he learned in real estate school. El Jefe whispered to me, "I hope he doesn't have agents under him." Turns out he does. And they sell real estate too.

All in all, I enjoyed my time with El Jefe. I am glad I went. But I could have done the same thing at a more convenient time and with better food if I figured this out sooner.