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A few minutes before eleven, Sophie closed her laptop and headed to Rick’s office. Most of the other agents were already out of the office. Rick already had his coat on. He led the way to his car which was parked right out front.
Jose, his morning driver, smiled. “Where to, boss?”
Rick gave him the address and pulled up a picture of the apartment on his iPad.
“I sold this to Lillian and Frank Sussman twelve years ago. She reached out on Friday. She let me know that Frank passed a few years ago and she’s ready to sell and move closer to her daughter, in Florida. She’s a nice lady, I think you’ll like her.”
Sophie nodded. She still wasn’t sure why Rick wanted her to go along, but she was happy to see a new listing.
They reached the address ten minutes later. Rick led the way into an older building on the Upper East Side with about twelve floors. There was a doorman, which was always a selling point. They went to the sixth floor and when Rick knocked on the door it was immediately opened by a tiny woman who wasn’t quite five feet tall. She had short bouncy white curls that framed a sweet face with blue gray eyes and a big smile. She was wearing a soft baby blue cardigan, gray wool pants and a string of freshwater pearls. Rick held out his arms and she went into them, and they hugged each other tightly.
“It’s so good to see you. I’m so glad you remembered me,” Lillian said.
“Of course, I did! You were one of my first clients, Lillian.” He flashed her one of his most charming smiles, “And one of my favorites.”
Lillian laughed delightedly. “Charming as ever I see.”
“This is Sophie, one of my newer associates. She’ll be working with me on this to make sure we give your property the highest priority,” Rick said.
“How nice. It’s lovely to meet you, dear.” Lillian smiled her way.
“You as well,” Sophie said.
“Come in, come in. Would either of you like a hot cup of tea or coffee?” Lillian offered.
Rick and Sophie both declined. Lillian showed them around the apartment. It was spotless, with high ceilings, a small but well laid out kitchen, two bedrooms, a full bathroom in the primary bedroom and a half bath off the living room. There was also an alcove off the living room that was set up as a library. All four walls had bookcases full of books. Most of it was fiction and more than half was romance. There was also an overstuffed chair by a window that let in a lot of light.
“That’s my favorite spot in the apartment,” Lillian said, glancing at the chair. “I’ll make myself a cup of tea and spend an afternoon there reading. I love a good romance and sometimes a mystery, just to mix things up.”
Rick nodded. “I enjoy the occasional mystery. I’m a big fan of Lee Child. Have you read him?”
“I have. I’m more of a cozy mystery reader. I like Jana DeLeon. Her books make me laugh out loud.”
“That sounds fun,” Sophie said. “I mostly read romance, but I might have to check out those books, too.”
They ended in the dining area of the living room and sat at a cozy clear-glass table.
“So, Lillian, you’re sure you want to leave this marvelous apartment?” Rick asked. It was clear that she loved it there.
She nodded slowly and looked determined. “I’m ready. As much as I love it here, it’s just not the same since I lost my Frank. There are too many memories here. And my daughter and grandchildren are in Florida. There’s a lovely independent living community a few miles from where she lives.”
Rick nodded. “It will be nice to be near your family. Have you thought about what you’d like to price your home at?”
“I’m really not sure. I would hope at least a million, maybe a bit more? What do you think?”
He grinned. “I think we can do quite a bit better than that. When we decide on a price, we always look at recent sales of similar homes in the area. I think we should ask 1.75 million. What do you think about that?”
Lillian’s eyes widened. “Are you sure? That seems like an awful lot. More than I expected.”
“I think that is a fair price and there is quite a bit of demand for that price point. I don’t think it should take too long to find a buyer.”
“Well, isn’t that something?” She looked a bit dazed by it all.
“As I mentioned earlier, Sophie will be working with me on this. So please reach out to her anytime if you have any questions. We can set up an open house for next weekend if you like? I would suggest this weekend, but with the holiday there may be a lot of people out of town.”
“I will be one of them. I’m flying to Florida tomorrow and back on Sunday. So, the following weekend would be just fine for an open house.”
“Good. We’ll plan on Sunday afternoon maybe from 1-2, if that would work for you?” Rick asked.
