Stewart Dougherty, Lewisburg, WV
Over the years, I have had the good for
tune to work with several excellent realtors. Most recently, I had an opportunity to work with Paul Grist of Foxfire Realty. Paul is not “merely” excellent; he is superlative, and without question the best realtor I have ever dealt with in my life.
When I decided to purchase a home in Greenbrier County, my criteria were difficult to communicate, because I was looking for something hard to find or explain. While I had a vision in my mind of what I was looking for, it was difficult for me to translate it into something actionable for Paul … a frequent dilemma when it comes to visions, I suppose! Paul worked with me tirelessly to help refine and crystallize the vision by showing me several properties. Throughout this patient process, he was able to continually course correct so that we could progressively zero in on an ideal target. The more he understood about what I was looking for, the more precise his search became. Paul never faltered in this time-consuming, laborious work.
Toward the end of the long search, we found a property that was extremely close to meeting my criteria. I placed on offer on the property, and was excited about it. But the home inspection was a disappointment, and I decided not to proceed with the purchase.
This became Paul’s finest hour, a time when he demonstrated impeccable integrity and earned himself honor and my deep respect. He had worked dozens of hours in my behalf, and a transaction and commission were in his grasp. Imagine his disappointment when he learned that I did not want to conclude the deal.
The property was so close to my needs in so many respects that if Paul had decided to persuade me to buy it despite the problematic home inspection report, I would have done so. But that’s not Paul Grist. Paul accepted without complaint my decision to cancel the transaction, and never once did he try to convince me to buy the property. In accepting my decision and behaving as he did, he demonstrated genuine respect for me, his client. Many people say that they put the customer first, but few actually do. Paul is different: he does, and the way he performed when told that I did not want to proceed with the purchase is incontrovertible proof of it.
When you work with someone great, the potential for magic materializes. And in my case, that’s exactly what happened: magic. Only a few weeks after I canceled the original purchase, a new prospective property appeared on the market. We visited the property, and then Paul performed extensive due diligence on it. Based on his findings, I placed a bid on and won it. It is a unique property, and far, far better than the one I almost purchased. When it comes to what I was looking and hoping for, this beautiful property is about as close to perfection as I could have gotten anywhere.
Dealing with Paul has proven to me without a shadow of a doubt that one’s choice of realtor is of critical importance. As I mentioned above, I could easily have been convinced to purchase the first property, and if Paul had been more concerned about promptly receiving a commission check than about my desires and needs as his client, that’s exactly what he could have done: convinced me. But Paul put me far above himself, and did not second guess me. This opened the way for the perfect property to appear, and it did, just a few weeks later. Paul’s professionalism, excellent judgment, and abiding confidence that an even better property was out there for me opened the way to the achievement of an extraordinary outcome.
Paul is a person of matchless integrity, expertise, patience and good will. Every day that I enjoy this exceptional home, I am thankful to Paul, because such a magical place would never have become mine had it not been for him.
Sincerely, Stewart Dougherty