Holiday Party Recap

Wed Dec 7th
SF Rex holiday party at Armani Exchange. SF Rex is a networking group for young professionals in commercial real estate. I was party hopping that night and this was the last stop. The usual mix of commercial brokers and lenders. Lots of mortgage brokers go to these events looking for networking and lending opportunities. I did meet one actual real estate investor. He'd been invited to the party by a lender he knows. Told me a bad flip story. Market had changed and he's taken a $300,000 price reduction since July. Later that evening, his friend arrived who was just moving here from Washington DC. I agreed with him that the weather was better here. They invited me to a Marcus Millichap party in Russian Hill. Unfortunately, my evening was ending and besides I has already drunken 3 glasses of wine. This was the last stop.

Wed Dec 14th
Office holiday party at Elephant and White Castle. Lots of food, lots of people, no open bar. Real estate isn't like other professions where you get to know the people in your office. Everyone pretty much runs their own business and agents spend most of their time out of the office. Except for sales meetings (which I rarely attend) I don't get to see the other agents that often. There were people at the party whom I've never seen nor met. I had to run so I missed the holiday skit, but I came back for dessert later to find a few people sitting around a table. I found out one of our administrators is recently engaged, how one of our top producers found her husband, an agent's take on "cheating" in relationships, etc, etc. Steve mentioned he liked my blog, so I dedicated a posting to him (12/19).

Mon Dec 19th
San Francisco Apartment Association holiday party. I promised to bring a holiday desert and settled on the SF Cityscape cake from Just Desserts. It was the talk of the party along with me being late. I thought the party started at 6:30pm but it really started at 6pm. Holiday brain hiccup. I did make a fashionably late entrance. Another real estate agent and a title company officer came by to help me set up. People in this industry tend to be both helpful and nice. Lots of food, lots of people, open bar. Got into some discussions with the apartment owners about city politics. In a city like San Francisco, it's a topic that is hard to avoid. Landlord tenant relationships leave a lot to complain about. One of the other real estate agents saw problem tenants as an opportunity. Only if the price is right. I brought the cake to remind us of why we choose to live and own here. This is a wonderful city...