The He-Shell and the She-Shell were unusually quiet. R.M. had grown accustomed to their many questions, peppered liberally through their previous discussions. They were looking out the windows at his single party listing in the Prospect. He had often observed that people at property showings tended to spend a lot of time looking out the windows when of course they should be mostly looking at the unit, especially on a second visit.
Shel turned towards him and said, “Guess I really want something facing the other way.” 
R.M. nodded and waited. Shel continued. “Given our work schedules, we are more likely to have a little time at home in the morning than in the evening. If it’s mostly late when we get home, we don’t care about the light outside, or the view. But it would be nice to have some morning sunshine.”
“Let’s go back up to the solarium and take a look then.” suggested R.M. The solarium offered views in several directions, including on the lake side of the building. “Of course, these lake views will cost you relatively more, you understand, on any floor. We’ll go back out on the terrace as well, before we leave.” He joked, “You know, if you lived on the Michigan side of the lake, your morning sun would be facing away from the lake.”
Walking into the solarium and looking east, Shel enthused, “Yes, this is definitely more like it! Can you show us any units on this side?”
“None listed right now but that will likely change. Now that you’ve seen a few units and developments, let me ask you something. It’s an old saw in the sales business called a ‘trial close’. It’s supposed to be a way of testing to see if someone will buy something, and of course I can see that you are not ready as yet. But I’ve found that it is useful and I’ll tell you why. But first let me ask the question, OK? It goes like this, ‘If you had to buy a unit today, which one would you choose?’ Now when I ask this, it’s not to make you feel pressured to make up your mind but because, especially in the case of couples, it’s good to find out where they agree and disagree. As they each think and decide what matters and what doesn’t, I ask them to keep me in the loop so I can show them what they really want. If they don’t do that… “
Michelle finished the sentence. “then you can’t show them what they want. Well, we really do like this building. But I guess it never really became clear ’til just now that I want a home with morning light or that that would even be important. And we do agree on that, right Shel, even if it costs more?”
Shel gulped, and nodded.
“Then while we are here,” R.M. requested, “let’s go back into the unit on the “wrong” side and look at some of the other similar features, the floor plan, the space, and see if anything else comes to mind. Honestly, I’ve seen pairs get into squabbles about the color of the grout in the bathroom.”
Later, as R.M. was showing them out of the building, he saw that Mrs. James was still there in the lobby. “Any luck?” she asked him. “Or am I not supposed to ask that?”
“Well, I’m certainly not supposed to answer, Mrs. James.” he teased. “Progress – we are making headway. They said that they liked the building very much. They will likely keep looking for awhile longer.”
“That’s nice to hear, anyway. Our confidence is a little shattered at present.” She added, “Speaking of confidence, it must be very hard to be a realtor. I mean, you show people places that you think they might like, always assuming they turn up. Remember that you said they don’t always do that either? Anyway, if they don’t like the places, how do you handle that, personally and professionally?”
“We have just been discussing that very thing upstairs.” he said. “You have to find out over time what they do like. Sometimes they aren’t sure themselves. Once in a great while some-one will say, ‘This is fine – I just need a place to live.’ You and your husband were towards that end of the spectrum. More often than not, it takes longer. It’s a bit like detective work, circling, getting closer to the truth, eliminating from consideration what doesn’t belong. And there is a lot to see, at least to begin with, most of the time.”
“You must be a patient man then.” she observed, looking up from her crocheting. ” I assume that you must be doing this same thing with several customers at the same time. How do you keep up with the market the way you do, for different buyers?”
“You flatter me, Mrs. James. It’s what I’m supposed do. But if you are asking me personally, there are a few things that help me do just that. As you know, I’ve seen many years now in the wonderful world of real estate. So one, experience.” he said, counting out points on his fingers. “Plus I enjoy working with people, find them fascinating. So two, I get along with my co-workers, so to speak. I especially enjoy the challenges of working out deals between buyers and sellers. So three, the interest. There is always something new to learn, whether it comes from the work itself or through the continuing education classes we have to take. So four, the knowledge, and applying that knowledge to the wide range of situations that occur. So the variety too, and that makes five!” He repeated, “Experience, fascination, challenge, knowledge, and variety.”
“I see that you must have thought about your occupation long before my asking about it. How about the other hand? What cards are you holding there?” she teased him back.
“A different suit there, Mrs. James, specific to the condo market. First, every month I track the pending and sold listings. I have a record of these statistics going back many years, so I have an accurate way to measure changes. Second, every day I watch the new listings or changes to listings so I know what is available. Third, I have all the developments mapped so I know where everything is. This has been more and more important as the number of developments grew. Fourth, I keep an updated inventory of developments within neighborhoods on the map that includes basic information about each one. I can tell you, for an example, the location of all of the developments in the Gold Coast, or on Prospect, and which ones have pools. Fifth, since the beginning of the condo market, I have kept an archive of articles describing the growth of condos in each neighborhood. The shelf is groaning.”
Mrs. James confessed, “We have included you in a card game we’ve been making – one specific to our association, mind you.” As he looked puzzled, she went on to say, “It’s a game Earnest Arbuthnot is teaching the girls to play, called Happy Families. We are using the names of residents and their occupations to create families on the playing cards, and you are included – Mr. R.M. The Realtor®Man!”