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A DECADE's GRATTITUDE - Thanks to You 2020

by Michael H Wasserman

Our day to day focus in this office is to facilitate safe, secure, and pleasant closings for our clients when they buy and sell real estate. We work very hard to assure success and to solve the problems that get in the way of our shared objectives. We are always on the lookout for ways to make the process even easier. We spend an inordinate amount of time on improving the system and the client experience. 


Like many other businesses, we see the year's end as a time of reflection. We step back from the day to day work and try to appreciate the results of our efforts. To consider our achievements and to express our deepest gratitude to everyone we work with. We thank the other deal participants, our referral partners and we consider how fortunate we are that so many hundreds of families entrust us us on work on their real estate deals. We can do none of this without them. We cannot do any of this without you. We appreciate all of you. Our hearts are full.  

How did we do this year? Well, the firm keeps growing. That is certainly good. We received some very flattering comments in our internal post-closing surveys. Our reviews on Yelp, Google and other public facing internet review sites continue to be positive. Client feedback? It makes us very humble. It evokes feel gratitude and satisfaction. Not that we are going to ride on our past laurels alone.

That feedback from our clients drives us to try even harder and to do even better. We continue to refine our services and our systems with that one goal in mind. We help clients close real estate deals. Safely, securely, and with the least amount of stress possible. 

 We can discuss some of those initiatives in the new year. For now, let's turn back to an older - more firmly established initiative.

Ten years ago, at a time when the real estate markets were still reeling from the 2008 financial crisis mortgage industry melt down, I got to this point and resolved that it was not enough to simply feel grateful. We needed to find a way to transform that gratitude into a tangible and meaningful action.

Ten years ago, we began our Thanks to You program. For a decade now, we have asked clients who closed on residential transactions to select one from our curated list of ten charitable organizations and upon doing so,  we have directed $50 accordingly. Clients designate the specific recipient from our list and all donations are made as tributes to them. 

The Thanks to You program was intended and still acts to both express gratitude to our clients for hiring us, and to help build a stronger community for us all. Together we have pledged tens of thousands of dollars to organizations supporting better education, better health, and the fine arts.

As crazy as the world has been in 202, it would have been an easy year to let things pass. This year is no exception and we spent much time today completing that annual of gift-giving. 

I suspect we do not say this often enough, but we really appreciate your business and your referrals. Thanks to you. 

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