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The Cult of Nancy Duff The following are excerpts from the topic "The Cult of Nancy Duff" in the Berkeley conference of the WELL. Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff I went to a party Saturday night. I met Nancy Duff, real estate agent extraordinaire. 48 hours later, my offer for my first house was accepted. I wasn't looking to buy at this time -- life's much too busy. But Nancy is a force of nature, and there was no stopping her. I know there's been a lot of posts about Nancy in various places in this conference, but I really think she deserves her own topic. Hail to Nancy! Walgreens (aleonard) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff I mean really! You have a casual conversation with someone at a party, next thing you know you're agreeing to go to an open house, and then, barely 12 hours later, you're committing your life savings. It's insane! Bu then, that's what cults of personality are all about aren't they? I know I'm not the only to have fallen victim.... Walgreens (aleonard) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Who's Nancy Duff? (shanda) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Nancy Duff is the current incarnation of a long line of avatars of the House-Goddess Rey-Altor, described in the Kam-hom Sutra as having a thousand eyes, which gaze eternally on little icons of bungalows and cottages, and four thousand arms which embrace her followers and banish all worldly desire other than two bedrooms and off-street parking. Her beauty is matched only by the clean lines of a Craftsman built-in thats never been painted; her wisdom only by the knowing approval of the engineering inspector who says fine, all you need is some shear-wall around the basement. Her voice is as sweet as the sound of the morning dove in the fifty-year old plum tree in the double-wide backyard, as comforting as the gurgle of the hot-tub/w redwood deck. Nancy roolz! (ernie) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff I knew that there was something mythical about her. I think of Nancy as the Mike Ovitz of real estate. She's a dealmaker -- she makes houses happen. Walgreens (aleonard) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Tina and I first met Nancy when we were looking for a house 3 years ago. We were waiting outside a house for her, and saw her motor up with a cell phone pressed to her ear. "Wow, the quintessential wheeler-dealer," we thought. Then we found out she was using the phone to call up her video rental to reserve _Buckaroo Banzai_. That was when I first knew this was someone I could do *business* with. Tell me where is fancy bread (woodman) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff We moved into our astoundingly beautiful place 11 weeks after we decided it was time to start thinking about looking for a house and Sonia said "say, we should call that Nancy Duff person everyone speaks so highly of." Bob Rossney (rbr) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff May I add my own (and Jennifer's) highest praises for this goddess. Based on all the kudos extended on the WELL, Jen and I opted to have Nancy represent our wonderful home that we have cared for and loved (and loved in) for the past six years, forsaking another broker who sold us the house originally and has been a good friend since. Jen was anxious about this. I was confident. The house was listed as of October 1. Broker's open was October 3. Open House was October 6. Nancy mentioned that she had spoken with some people at a party earlier and encouraged them to take a look at our house. Lo and behold, those people came to the open house, fell in love and made an offer which we accepted. Here's where it gets cosmic: Nancy had decided not to attend the party, only changing her mind when, absent-mindedly, she noticed that her car seemed to be steering itself toward the party!! (Cue Twilight Zone theme) Sixty-six days from listing to closing??? Totally unheard of in today's market. But it is happening, right before my eyes. No doubt about it: Nancy Roolz!!! Loyal Order of Righteous Duffism Yowsah (LORDY)! (ode) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff > here's where it gets cosmic We've been bowled over by the karma, Robin. Absolutely bowled over. Walgreens (aleonard) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff I am laughing and smiling as I sit here in my sweet room inmy craftsmanbrown shingle, with it's veiw through the stained glass windows to the west, it's hardwood floors, it's sweet garden (where robin and jen got their gravel for their driveway, BTW), it's coved ceilings and built ins. Like Andrew, all it took was one morning with Nance. Rummage sale of the Subconscious (reet) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff I met Nance through my friend Queenie Taylor, who is now on the Well but wasn't in 1986 when I first was in the market for a house. She took great care of me and my then-SO, guiding us through all the strange pitfalls of acquiring a home. In 1989, when I needed to leave that house and find a loft for myself and my production studio, Nance connected me with the perfect place. Along the way, I introduced her to many friends who needed her services, and along the way we became friends, too. These days Rita and I are ensconced in a house that Nance helped us find and helped us buy despite some weird shit the mortgage person pulled, and we hang out together often. We love Nance as a friend and recommend her as a talented, resourceful and much-more-than-just professional realtor. Oh, one other thing: Nance is the one who started the ball rolling on the recording project that woodman and I are working on (more about that in a month or two). We were performing at Sweetwater in the spring of 1995, Eric and I, and after our set Nancy Duff said, "You guys ought to make a record. I'd kick in a few bucks to make it happen..." It's taken us more than a year, but we're just about finished with an album of which we are pretty dang proud. Luv ya, Nance. Ask your dog! (tnf) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Waitaminnit -- so andrew is buying Robin's house? Kinky! We also live in our dream home, courtesy of Nancy. We'd seen it ourselves several months before, on our own, when it was pretty expensive. Months go by, I've seen a few places with Nancy that weren't quite perfect but we made offers that weren't taken. Then Nancy calls to say she's seen the one for us, we realize it's the now-muchless expensive dream house, and Hurricane Nancy took over. Somehow she managed to trump all the other brokrs to get our offer in first, and to get a decision before the seller's broker looked at any one else's. Ta da! For this, we owe her muchly. Not to mention to great mortgage broker who sent us a check for a couple of thousand bucks, saying "the bank gives me a rebate for sending them business -- so here it is, it's yours!" Eloquent Orbs of Empathy (gidget) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Here I am in my condo from Nance as well, adding to the chorus! ME MicroTimes (microx) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff We also bought using Nancy's services. She called us, said, "I've found your house; drive by and see it, open house is Sunday." We drove by, were not convinced. Walked in on a Sunday afternoon, and Eric said, "I could be happy here." It felt right. It is right. Nancy is a goddess. Tina Loney (onezie) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Nancy's responsible for the house we live in, too. Not that she actually found it for us; we're a bit outside her territory now. But she knew our Berkeley house intimately; she was a sing thing regular and a Thanksgiving dinner guest and a casual drop-in pal besides. Reading the chronology of this topic so far, I'd have to say that I blame Gans. %^) When we told Nance we were starting to house-hunt up here, that carried with it the implicit notice that she'd get the listing on what we now refer to as Casa Jereva del Sud. We found a place we liked, and made an offer contingent on selling our Berkeley house. The seller wouldn't accept the contingency. We swallowed hard, removed the contingency, and called Nance. That was, I think, a Thursday. She was over within an hour, with all the paper work and, just beating the deadline, called in an open house ad to the Chron's real estate section. For that Sunday. Gulp. We had a good turnout, but it was a miserable, overcast day, and our stunning Golden Gate view was invisible. Nance put the place on the realtors' open house for the following week; that's where every realtor in the area runs around and looks at all the new listings. The place was mobbed. We held a second open house for buyers the following Sunday. I had to work and couldn't leave the house this time, but I holed up in my office and couldn't help but notice that a couple of parties were there for a long time, and came back later in the day as well. That Monday, a week and a half after we'd given her the listing, we had two offers: One for the full asking price, and the other, $5K less but (they told us later) they would gladly have paid more. The backup offer was all cash; the guy attached a copy of his brokerage account statement showing that he had the money on hand. Two months later, we closed on our new house and our old one, in the same week. So that's a seller's perspective. I think Nance herself was a little surprised at how fast and how smoothly it went. She'd warned us that it was a bad time of year to sell, and the comps -- the comparably-priced houses in the nabe -- were pretty stiff competition. Nancy is a goddess, indeed. latte to go, no anchovies (reva) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff I would recommend that anyone interested in a home in Berkeley, or on information on what kind of income they need for a loan, call Nancy. If she can't answer, she certainly can steer you to a good source. BTW: I hear from the grapevine that Nancy Herself is aware of this topic, and is flattered as all hell......Or something like that! Tina Loney (onezie) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Nancy Duff has joined the Berkeley Zoning Commission! Ask your dog! (tnf) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff See topic 4, my friend. You're a coupla days late. We've already got her running for mayor!!!!! Tina Loney (onezie) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff And I've got a campaign poster up in my front yard. latte to go, no anchovies (reva) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Yup, thanks to you guys, Nancy will be helping me to sell my house up in the hills (315 The Spiral) this june. She is quite a pleasure to work with! joe howton (hcj) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Welcome to the . . . (cue Twilight Zone theme here . . . dee dee dee dee . . . ) C U L T , Joe . . . Robin O'Donnell (ode) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Resistance is futile, your real estate will be assimilated... Extra Crunchy (booter) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Well, Nancy did it again. We looked at a house together on Friday, July 11th. On Monday, exactly one month to the day after she opened the lock-box and showed me the house, David and I get the keys. I signed the papers on Wednesday, wired the $$ yesterday, and the house is about to be ours. I got an incredible rate on my mortgage. It was painless. Nancy *rulz*!! built to sway (paris) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Yay, Libbi! Yay, Nancy! Enjoy it! Tina Loney (onezie) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff She's awesome. Truly. I'm clueless about the California way of doing real estate - it's very different than either Massachusetts or New Jersey or Pennsylvania (where I've bought and sold houses in the past) - and having someone I knew I could trust and depend on was incredibly reassuring. built to sway (paris) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Does Nancy do rentals? Short term? Spring has Sprung (sherrie) Topic 705 [berkeley]: The Cult of Nancy Duff Sorry. No, she doesn't do rentals. John H. Maurer (steeldrv)