REFERRALS:
CONTEXT, about MY point of view...
I am not one to make referrals just for the sake of referrals, just as I am not a 'touch screen tipper' or a 'percentage' based tipper. I will not 'tip' people to stand behind the register to take my order OR put money in the jar for the 'cooks', because THAT IS THEIR JOB - and at restaurants, I will NOT tip based on the percentage of the price of any meal; I WILL tip on the PERFORMANCE of the server. That is the entire purpose of tipping, to give a tip based on the level of service that goes above and beyond the MINIMUM requirements of delivering my food. Therefore, to just deliver my food and forget about us - you get a crappy tip, I have tipped as low as TWO PENNIES - however, if you care about your customer (us; my wife and I), then I will pay well over the (ridiculous) guideline of 18%, and up to 50% although rarely. So, a tip of 18% or more - that is not a tip, it is a tax (a tax on POOR service??, H**L NO!!), then they require a 'surcharge' for the meal on top of that - piss off, we are out of there or we leave NO tip with just a note to get the tip from management out of our 'surcharge'.
NOTE: Do not get me wrong, we are not cheap. We worked hard for our money - why would we just give it away in exchange for poor service? Just the other night, we went to a BBQ place, never been there before. Waitress was incredible, helped us, checked on us (more than once), kept the drinks full, brought extra napkins WITHOUT asking us. We went to leave, she got extra sauce, and extra DRINKS in TO-GO containers - she was remarkable and even my wife was impressed. We gave her a 50% tip on a meal that was over $100 - taking home more food than we ate... SERVICE >and< ATTITUDE are everything in a "SERVICE" based business/occupation.
Receiving a tip is a REWARD for good service - NOT an entitlement; if you don't agree with me, I don't care - because it really means you are part of the problem.
My philosophy on tipping - is applied directly to any referrals I give out (on ANYTHING or ANYONE); It better be GREAT service and not just someone trying to blow smoke up my butt.
That said - in the context of selling my house, I have TWO referrals:
* GRACELAND REMODELING
* FRONTGATE REAL ESTATE
Graceland Remodeling:
When I decided to sell my home, I knew it needed fixing up. I called about 8 repipe companies and finally found ONE that (I thought) was good; who then tried to jerk me around the day before work was to begin - I fired them in a heartbeat. I then rebooted my process, and went through about 15 general contractors just to get down to the final TWO. The last round of negotiations the scope of work was identical however, Graceland came across as having more integrity and also they LISTENED to me more than they talked TO me. they talked WITH me - it is important to understand that difference. I was so impressed in the first part of their work, that I extended their contract for an additional $20,000. I am VERY happy with their work and just as importantly - YOU should be as well. WHEN you purchase this house - the full warranties of all their work TRANSFER to the new owner - hopefully YOU. YES - - I wholeheartedly endorse them and I refer them to anyone who needs work done.
UPDATE: We recently, (a week after I wrote this page), went to the house to check on things and noticed the kitchen faucet was running, more than a drip but less than running - AND water on the floor. I tracked it down to the drain fitting going into the wall... We cleaned up the water and I immediately messaged GRACELAND (the owner I worked with). He responded right away, while on an airplane returning internationally from his vacation. He said he would have his workers come by the next morning. His guys came by at 8:15am they had it fixed and CLEANED UP everything and were out the door at 9:38am. THIS is why I give them a referral, because of the integrity of their work and the integrity of their service....
FRONTGATE REAL ESTATE:
I met DANA at the open house just across and up the street from mine, while my house was undergoing all the upgrades from Graceland... We talked a bit and what I noticed was important - she was talking WITH me and NOT to me; again, an important difference. She took the initiative to come and visit my house two more times, once to just come and see it and the second, when she delivered the keys to the new owners from that open house... Every time, she was professional yet friendly and talked WITH me, listened to me and provided insight BASED on what she heard me saying. She came across to me as a person who listens and then responds - NOT as a person who is just waiting for their time to talk...
Previous to signing with DANA to sell my house, I had several realtors come through to look at it and talk with me - - just as I had went through about 15 contractors to choose one, I did the same with realtors. I even had a couple realtors from Orange County come up, including one I deal with every month. They gave me binders of information and TOLD me things but they did not really hear what I was saying. The one from OC, gave me a GIANT 3 ring binder and never listened to me he only talked TO me & just treated my house like a commodity. told me to sign with him and he would upgrade & take care of everything and we would settle accounts on the other side - - talk about alarm bells going off in your head... NO F'ing way my (ex)friend...
The process to sell this house is ONGOING, yet Dana still listens to me and talks WITH me, never talking TO me. If you understand what I am saying, then you understand just how important that is - especially with such a large decision as buying or selling real estate. However, IF,,, things change in this relationship, I will remove this endorsement in a heartbeat...
KNOW who you are, be CLEAR about your thoughts and intentions and GOALS - and if you are, then trust your instinct.
These are my referrals and those are the reason why - I hope they can help you with whatever yours needs are.
- - (Their contact information and links are at the bottom of every page) - -
