Fishhawklakerealtor's Blog

I’ve asked this question periodically for years. I’ll ask friends, bring it up as a party question, or casually mention it in a business conversation. It could be more than one lifeboat, too. For example, my Personal Lifeboat would include my husband, but in my Business Lifeboat, I’ve got such a bastion of folks lined up on my real estate team that he’s more of my 1st Alternate if someone were to jump ship at the last moment. Not because he’s not “on my team”, he IS, but when I talk about my business lifeboat, I think about people like my favorite lender, my escrow officer….people like THAT. 

Part of the reason why I mention my favorite lender, Shawn Baeschlin with NW Mortgage Group, Inc. is because he WITHOUT FAIL takes great care of my clients and does it with the same business acumen and compassion and integrity that I give them and makes me look like a savior!!!  Especially in this time when mortgage people–good ones who are still in business–are hard to find who can get the job done. This is how I describe Shawn to my clients: “he’s no drama, efficient and does what he says he’s going to do”. He goes above and beyond, too, to the point of actually driving papers over to someone on a weekend or going the extra mile to alieve someone’s concerns by sharing his personal story if that’s what it takes.  He LOVES what he does and that’s the kind of person I want in my lifeboat!

But, wait I have more Lifeboat Partners! My escrow officer is like Shawn, and she’s fun and makes all of that paperwork a dream because she HANDLES IT professionally and still has a great personality and is flexible and works within my parameters when things get crazy. She, like Shawn can handle any personality I throw at her from the person who never has time for you to the one who has to have their hand held through every tiny step of the process.

Another thing I like about my Lifeboat Partners is that I don’t have to be the specialist in EVERYTHING. They do what they do BEST and I can count on that, so I know when to send my client to them with the impossible question that I can’t answer. And they make me look good while doing it!

Another one of my Lifeboat Partners is my Principal Broker and my friend, Helen Bateman who owns Vernonia Realty. She ALWAYS has my back whether it’s with all of the paperwork, or doing research online for some new law, like our woodstove removal law that just went into effect last August in Oregon or helping me with insurance questions that come up because she was in that business for 25+ years or or or…she is EXCEPTIONAL. Her integrity is out of this world and I really respect her.  AND she has a sense of humor–thank GOD!!

So, who do YOU have in your lifeboat?  Will they be there in an emergency? Will they give you a chance to laugh about something just to pull you out of sadness or anger? Will they honor your client the way you do? Will they follow through in a timely manner when they say they will?  These are just some of the great qualities my Lifeboat Partners possess and I’m SO lucky to have them with me come Hell or High Water!!!

Gayle Rich-Boxman, Broker with Vernonia Realty

Your Gateway to Fishhawk Lake!

Whether you volunteer for a local organization, become a matchmaker, social networker or do some of what I’ve done in the past (which I’ll go into in a minute) it’s all about the LOVE aspect for doing something GOOD for someone else. It’s like a good  drug, the more you do it, the better it makes you feel.

After having a successful year in real estate when many around my area were getting out of the business, I decided to say a special thank you to my clients, both sellers and buyers alike.  So, what I decided to do as sort of a Thank You/Christmas gift was to ask what charity they would like me to make a donation to and I would do it in their name.  It was absolutely delightful to see what clients felt passionate about!  I even went so far as to suggest a few of my personal favorites if they got stuck and needed guidance. I did end up with a lot of free calendars as a result! My personal favorites are organizations that help animals or the environment, the World Wildlife Organization, NRDC (Natural Resouces Defense Council) , or Family Dogs New Life Center (a no kill shelter), located in SE Portland. It felt incredibly good to show gratitude by spending a small amount of money to further a good cause and have it be to an organization that essentially heard from two people, not just one.

The Pay it Forward concept has been a favorite mantra of mine for years, ever since the Kevin Spacey movie came out. I’m of the mind that I was doing it throughout my life, but couldn’t put a “name” on it until this movie came out. Since that time, as someone whom I don’t know does some wonderful unselfish act for my benefit, or vice versa, I then make a mental note to “pay it forward”, or ask the stranger that I’ve done something for to then pay it forward to someone they don’t know.  It’s like a little bit of Christmas every day of your life! 

My other way of paying it forward is to connect people in some fashion who have a “need” of some kind that someone I know can help take care of or fulfill, or fix, you get the idea. I compiled a Resource List, based on resources that I’ve personally used, everyone from a landscaper, to a surveyor, to a roofer or even a local restaurant that has unfailingly pleased my hungry real estate clients (The Blue House in Vernonia) and I put it on my WordPress blog. I add to it regularly. It makes a world of difference for those new buyers who are looking to do some repairs (out in the middle of nowhere, on our lake in the coastal range of Oregon), knowing that they have a realtor AND a neighbor who can safely guide them to a local resource that will get the work done in a timely fashion and not charge an arm and a leg because we are so far away from Home Depot or Lowe’s! It makes the client/neighbor (as I live out here, too) breathe a sigh of relief AND it puts money back into the local economy.

One of the best things about this is that it ALL COMES BACK TO YOU. I have learned to pay attention to those little daily miracles and know that I’m bringing it back to my self because I send it out with joy and love. For example, I was driving home in the dusk, going slowly around a very curvy road, when a young, brownish deer who simply faded into the dusklike light came meandering across my path, but made it to safety on the other side and I sighed with relief that I saw it GET to safety, and no other truck was around to hurt it and I thanked the Powers That Be because that is what I consider a little miracle!

You can do many many things that are very simple and free. For example, offer to take a cart back when someone is in a parking lot, if you’re heading into the store. Holding a door for someone, saying “Bless You” to a stranger when they sneeze in your presence–all easy stuff and I gotta tell you, it surprises people and there are a zillion ways to do it. So, get out there, pick a stranger and Pay it Forward!