I was freaked out about the prospect of having to sell our house: we had been out of it for nearly three years, we were living on the other side of the country, and the house was being rented out. I had spoken to Suzanne a couple of times during the years about unrelated stuff and it struck me how much time she had been willing to spend with me on the phone even though she knew she wouldn't be getting anything out of me. I've probably spoken to her for hours and it's weird that I've never actually met her in person.
Powers Realty Group are underdogs and as a business owner myself, I have a soft spot for underdogs, especially when they fiercely try to prove themselves and give you a superior experience to the established brands. This is exactly what I got from them. I was skeptical about certain things, some of the reviews, etc. and she took the time to explain those and gain my trust. I almost feel a twinge of sadness that I have no valid reason to interact with her anymore.
As for the home selling experience itself, I've never been to a spa, but I can imagine that this was what it was like. I felt pampered and taken care of. If you're a business owner and/or busy person, imagine the feeling of leaving a difficult problem that lots of people could easily screw up with, that you're dreading delegating or even dealing with, and leaving it to a team of competent people who not only know their stuff, but also understand human psychology, the importance of frequent communication, regular updates, timelines that are laid out and then actually adhered to. It was unbelievable. This process was smoother than my wildest expectations. In fact, I can't remember anything with this order of magnitude of complexity having gone this smoothly in my entire life. I don't know whether Suzanne had a soft spot for me or whether she treats all her clients this way, but she would constantly personally attend to my phone calls and emails. Gretchen and Erick were great too, but the crown jewel was Suzanne. My house wasn't even that expensive, so it wasn't a money thing. She routinely deals with houses that cost 3x+ more than mine, yet she was so nice to me and personally attended to me. At one point in time, when I was freaking out about something, she said in her no-B.S. style that I love: "Your $X house isn't going to make or break me," and I started laughing.
Like I said, I'm going to miss those interactions. Meaningful personal interactions are more important to me than material stuff. It may sound hard to believe, but I was a tiny bit bummed when the closing was complete and I got the "Thank you / We're done!" email. I felt like these expert guides had led me up and down Mt. Everest, we had bonded a lot along the journey, and now we were parting ways.