Early in my career, a friend of mine referred me to the Ravangards. They had an investment model of buying luxury townhouses as rentals. As a rookie agent, their purchase point was way above my average at the time. I was excited, nervous, and insecure, all at the same time.
The day before the appointment, someone backed into my car, and the front headlight fell out. It was just dangling by a wire and needed to be fixed. I didn’t have time or money to get the car repaired before the meeting, so I got creative and used duct tape to secure the headlight.
All the duct taped around the headlight looked awful. I was feeling pretty self-conscious. My plan was to arrive early, park that side of the car out of sight, and meet them at the front door.
The meeting went well, and the Ravangards liked the property. It met their criteria of being walkable to the Red Line Metro and in great condition. They even joked that many of their tenants lived in nicer homes than theirs.
We each went back to our cars and started to drive away. Then they thought of one more question, pulled over, and motioned me to stop. I started to sweat. I was already in my car and there was no way for me to hide the duct taped headlight. I pulled over, got out of the car, and quickly positioned myself in front of the headlight.
We talked a bit more, and then, out of curiosity I asked “how do you save enough money to keep buying rentals?”
Mrs. Ravangard looked at me. Then slowly looked in the direction of my headlight. She just stared at it for a second and smiled.
I still remember her answer to this day. She said “we use a ton of duct tape.”
Since then, the Ravangards have become good friends, favorite clients, and mentors. Thank you Dr. and Mrs Ravangard for being such wonderful people. I am grateful for all the real estate lessons you have taught me.
