Power Broker
The sale of my house was a complicated affair. But a genuine industry power broker with moxie and, even more importantly, with integrity and character, got the job done.
By John G. Stamos
The process of selling a parcel of real estate is, even in the most prosaic of cases, an exceedingly complicated one. In addition to what’s at the heart of any such transaction, i.e. the transfer of the particular parcel’s intrinsic, multifaceted “bundle of legal rights” from one party to the next, factors like market vicissitudes and the unpredictability of human thought and emotion can turn the process into an unnavigable stew or, worse, a fulminant powder keg resulting in a blown deal and recriminations to spare. In the case of the recent sale of my house, various additional extraneous factors (I’m forever keeping mum on every one of these) made the selling process even more complex.
I listed my house for sale for the first time in the late summer of last year. The pitfalls and complications that arose during that first attempt at selling resulted in a failed effort and opened my eyes to two realizations. The first was that my property was going to be a very tricky one to move. The second, arising from the first, was confirmation that I’d need a real estate broker of relentless diligence and infallible marketing and selling expertise to close this challenging property. It didn’t take long for me to further realize that the copiously qualified broker I ultimately hired possessed not only these traits in abundance, but also something much, much more – something that set him far apart from any real estate sales professional I’d ever known. Brian Volckmann of @properties, Christie’s International Real Estate – The Easly Group, was the guy I hired and the guy that got it done. He clearly had the moxie and the know-how, but above all else, he had character and he had integrity. And I believe it was these last two of his personal traits that provided the oomph to turn the trick, and that earned him my respect and admiration to boot. And yeah, they also ultimately earned him his commission (I can’t think of a paycheck that’s ever been more richly deserved).
The terms “sales” and “100% commission” had, until very recently, held for me a more or less consistent list of connotations. This list was fairly concise, with notions of “aggressiveness,” “hustle,” and “doggedness” topping it. Of course, since I’m at heart a cynical kind of guy, these yielded to darker associations like “desperation,” “disingenuousness,” “duplicity,” “underhandedness,” and “dishonesty.” When your compensation is 100% commission-based, as is the case with most residential real estate agents, if you don’t sell, you don’t eat. So, you do what you gotta do. In a sad, strange way, I get it.
Another thing I get is that “character” and “integrity” were never on the list. But this changed when I met Brian Volckmann, which happened in March of this year.
Mr. Volckmann made the scene at that time after my house failed to sell and close under the terms of a previous listing agreement with another real estate broker. He was referred to me by a number of extremely satisfied clients, and within minutes of meeting him, I knew that this particular 100%-commission-based kind of guy was of an entirely different taxonomy. In that same span of minutes, Brian learned the details of my property’s complicated situation, and, naturally, his peerless professionalism and expertise were revealed. Here was a broker who’d closed hundreds of residential real estate deals of varying complexity throughout his career, with properties ranging in market price from the tens of thousands through the multimillions. His approach in crafting a marketing plan was logical and well-considered, and would ultimately prove infallible. Of course, he brought me an acceptable offer in short order. But my property’s overwhelmingly complex situation guaranteed that the successful path to closing would include more twists and turns than the Mulholland Highway. In the face of a seemingly limitless succession of beyond-the-pale exigencies (again, all arising solely as a result of my property’s unique, innate complexities), not only did Brian Volckmann close the deal, he never lost his cool, and, more importantly, he made sure that I never lost mine.
Which brings me to the “character and integrity” part of the story…
Besides being potentially very complicated, selling one’s home can be a profoundly emotional experience. In my case, I’d lived in my house for a sizable chunk of time and had cultivated not only countless memories while there, but countless associations and countless relationships as well. Saying goodbye forever to so many of these was, for me, more than a little traumatic. Additionally, and at the risk of beating a dead horse, I’ll underscore the fact that the particular complexities involved with the process of transferring ownership of my property had acute blood pressure-raising, cardiac arrhythmia-inducing effects on me. As stressful as things would get, my realtor kept his shit together and generated solutions, all the while monitoring my own reactionary, mercurial tumults and mitigating them and their deal-killing potentialities.
Brian Volckmann, the quintessential professional, despite his protestations to the contrary, is an empath. Throughout the selling process of my home, his actions transcended and far exceeded the typical fiduciary duties a listing real estate broker owes his or her client. The extra time he spent, the attention he paid, and the special, unsolicited actions he took on my behalf to not only make my property more merchantable, but to honor its importance to me and the history I’d enjoyed with it, he claimed were all motivated solely by his desire to “do his job and sell your house.” To a degree, this is undeniable. To a much greater degree, however, I’m convinced that altruism and empathy guided his actions. Always modest and ever gracious, Mr. Volckmann’s demurrals were his only response to my expressions of gratitude for his above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty mindset and pursuant actions on my behalf. Throughout the broker-client relationship, his character and integrity were ever on full display, and he possessed both qualities in quantum amounts.
It’s true that this remarkable professional marketed my property brilliantly, adeptly peeled back the turbid layers of a complicated real estate deal, and used all of his considerable knowledge and expertise in the employment of actions that ran the gamut from high-tech visual presentation through old school, pen and paper, real property conveyance. Smart guy. No doubt about it. But it wasn’t his gray matter that ultimately made the deal a winner for me, it was what’s in his heart. When all parties in a complicated deal know that there’s a heart at the center of it, and that it’s kept beating by a man with the unrelenting decency of his own heart, the transaction all at once becomes something that’s conducted within a much closer range than arm’s length. The emotive power that keeps that deal’s heart beating is infectious, success grows intimate, and the closing of the transaction becomes a life event for all parties involved. It becomes a matter of character and integrity, and it was ultimately the character and integrity of my realtor, more than anything else, that got my house sold.
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Visit Brian Volckmann directly at https://www.atproperties.com/site/brianvolckmann1, and find all of his contact info on the card below.
I realize that plugging local services here in The RGG represents blatant parochialism of the highest order. This is the third time I’ve done it since early April of this year, but I know in my heart that in each of these cases it’s been entirely justified and well-deserved. All of those shout-outs were for people/enterprises who helped me get my Michiana Shores area property sold, which in turn was a key step in the upcoming move of RGG operations (and our dog Holly and me) to British Columbia, Canada. Real estate broker Brian Volckman tackled what was clearly the most complicated component of this process. Hopefully, by writing this piece, I’ve duly and appropriately recognized his invaluable efforts.
John Stamos is a writer and is co-publisher of The Renaissance Garden Guy. His work has appeared in a number of publications including, most recently, A Man for Some Seasons, Splice Today, and, of course, The Renaissance Garden Guy. He is married to his multitalented sweetheart, the mycologist and writer Ann Simpson-Stamos.
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Congratulations to you and Ann on the sale of your home. I’m glad Brian was able to guide and successfully close the sale.
Thank you, Rick. He did a remarkable job. He’s played a key role in our overall plans for not only the publication, but for our lives in general and for our future. His contribution was invaluable. Thanks for reading the piece, Rick, and thank you for the kind words.