When Matt and I got called up to a house for a listing appointment for a property that had been on the market for six months, we realized they were dropping their current price and their current agent. We paid attention to the shot clock, anticipated the changeover, and scooped up the listing. We were psyched! “Oh my God,” I said to Matt, “This is the biggest steal.”

With every property we think is a great deal, we always jump on the phone and tell our clients who have the money, “Hey, you gotta see this now!” At once, Matt and I got on our cell phones and called every client we knew who invested in this price range and had the money to close. We got through three calls, not expecting everyone would see the property on the spot.

Rarely when you make this kind of call do you get more than one client available to run up to the property then and there. This time, all three of them said “Wow, that sounds great. On my way. “ All three showed. All three offered. We were then screwed and sweating this big-time. They were all our clients and now all against each other. How do you play that and please all?

To sell real estate, you have to be a shrink, a therapist. We are shrinks to all of our clients. We have brought families together. We have seen families ripped apart. It’s the game. We deal with people in some of their worst times ever – grieving after the death of loved one, or going through divorce with babies stuck in the middle. But we also deal with clients in some of their best times ever.

If you think being a real estate agent is just about real estate, you’re 90% wrong. It’s 50% therapist, 50% realtor, and that’s why Matt and I work so well together. We are each other’s yin and yang. I’m the Rain Man of Real Estate and Matt’s the emotional roller coaster. Matt will hold someone’s hand from A to Z and really invest in the relationship, while I’m more the numbers guy. The Shark. In short, I sell houses and Matt sells life-long friendships.

It’s a killer combination and I recommend a similar partnership for any agent. In the end, the property became a bidding war.

Always be upfront and honest when in a deal with your own clients. Matt and I decided to tell them exactly what happened. Believe it or not, they were all very cool and laughed about it. They trust us. We had taken the time and effort to build those relationships. They believe in us because we believe in them.

It’s just how the game of real estate works, and as successful investors they all got it. They understood, and the property was worth more to one of them than it was to the others. I guess you could say the universe handled that one. I guess, actually we did. We just guided the deal along being respectful to our clients. One got a house and the others got state-of-the-art Altman Brothers concierge packages, aka Rolexes. Please one, you please all. It was just advanced Game-Time mentality.