I am  grateful for many things….for friends of long standing, relatives who love me, for my two children and two grandchildren, for relatively good healthy, and for a profession that gives me joy.  Even when prospective customers disappoint.

I had a prospective customer recently who asked me to  see if I could find properties for him to invest in, properties that he could rent on a daily or weekly basis, properties that had to provide him with a return on his investment of at least 15%.  So, I quickly sent him an email, thanking him for his inquiry, and included in the email a worksheet that would allow him to test any properties he or I found.  In the worksheet was an example that illustrated how the Excel sheet operated.  It was just a sample.  So, what was his response?  He said he had decided he would not invest here because all he could get as a return was 6%.  He could get that in Belgium, where he was from.

So, why am I grateful for him?  Well, he taught me I needed to be more explicit about what I say to prospective customers who are not real estate experts.  I should have explicitly said the example was just a sample, and that further data would follow.  I had indeed found 9 properties that I was prepared to research for him, and advise him of the rate of return for each.  My bad, I guess.  His impatience, also.

So, without wanting to sound naive or let you think I am a Pollyanna, how do how do I show my gratitude?

I let people into the traffic line when they are looking to exit from a parking lot.  I hang up clothes in a ladies’ clothing store when they have fallen off the hangars onto the floor.  In Walmart’s, I straighten out the merchandise on the tables   I make my bed every morning.  I count my blessings every day.

I keep my word.  I keep up to date on happenings in the world and in the local real estate market. I encourage people to be optimistic.  I happily share what I have learned from reading or from watching TV with anyone who will listen to me hold forth.  Silly stuff, maybe, but it works for me.

What are you grateful for?