Vistas of Vienna - My First Condo

I thought the real estate agent was my friend. After all, I was only a 24 year old single gal, what did I know about real estate? It was 1985 — none of my friends were buying real estate. I trusted her.

The agent, Suzie, drove me around all day long looking at different condo projects. It was Fairfax County, Virginia – a Washington, D.C. suburb. Finally around 4pm, we were at a condo project being built. I was hungry. Feeling shaky. I loved the place — it had a fireplace and a cathedral ceiling. Pretty cool for 1985. Boy, was I hungry. Suzie was insistent we get this contract written up before I lost the condo. I was not excited. I was hungry!

What I didn’t know was the real estate agent wasn’t my friend. Far from it. In those days the agents worked for the Seller; there were no Buyer Agents. She wasn’t looking out for my interests. The fact that she didn’t take me to lunch should have been my clue!

The next day, after I had eaten two meals, I felt really nervous. What had I done? This condo was way over my budget! Yikes, I had to get out of it. I didn’t want that place. I called Suzie and told her I didn’t want it, but I wanted the older condo we saw which was about $25,000 less. It didn’t have a fireplace or cathedral ceilings, but it was in my budget. That’s how I found my first condo at the Vistas of Vienna — a first floor, two bedroom, two full bath brick unit with a nice patio, double ovens and a garbage compactor.

Today my next door neighbor, Sheila, is a successful, long-time real estate broker. Sometimes she regales me with stories about taking her clients out to look at property, stopping at Starbucks and buying them drinks, taking time for a nice lunch. Suzie could learn a thing or two!