Leslie Lipowski and Pamela Zank

Reliable, Strong Relationships

By J. Marshall Pearson

Real estate agents must deal with a multitude of parties when selling a home or property, and any number of things can go awry along the way. Clients, loan officers, underwriters, lawyers and inspectors must all feel comfortable, and all have specific desires and criteria that must be met. In an industry just beginning the long climb out of a hole dug by the recession, professional relationships have been tested, and many agents have struggled. However, Branch Manager of Guaranteed Rate in Northbrook, Pamela Zank, and Leslie Lipowski, an agent with Prudential Rubloff’s Libertyville office, have developed a personal friendship over the years, and have been able to sustain a successful business relationship through the shared values of trust, dependability and honest communication.

Zank, a loan officer with over 20 years of experience, first met Lipowski 10 years ago. After switching to Guaranteed Rate from the Royal Bank of Canada, Zank, her fellow loan officers and processing staff were temporarily housed at the offices of Prudential Rubloff in Highland Park. Lipowski was a Realtor there at the time, and the two hit it off immediately. Both were new to their respective companies, and began seeing each other frequently.

“Most loan officers are ‘type-A’ personalities, so we started building relationships with the Realtors because we were all there every day,” Zank says. “We  have personalities that are very similar; we are both gregarious and outgoing.”

Lipowski says that Zank took the time to greet everyone in the office each morning when she arrived, something that the other loan officers didn’t necessarily do. It didn’t take long for a genuine friendship between the colleagues to serve as the bedrock of a longstanding and symbiotic business relationship. One of the key factors, according to both Zank and Lipowski, is honesty, particularly with respect to communication between them and Lipowski’s clients.

Many loan officers, especially those with relatively low experience, Zank says, have a tendency to promise more to their agents and clients than they can reasonably deliver. The pressure is on for loan officers to close, and sometimes a false optimism may dilute an otherwise bleak prognosis. From the beginning, however, this was not the case with Zank and Lipowski.

“People are afraid to deliver bad news. For loan officers, there’s a fear that if you don’t get a deal done, then they aren’t going to give you the next one. I don’t have that problem in my relationship with Lipowski,” Zank says. “I tell her from the very beginning whether or not I can meet her contingency date.”

Lipowski and her clients certainly can appreciate that honesty.

“When customers are taking out a big loan, we can’t sugarcoat it,” Lipowski says. “I often say to my clients, ‘you aren’t buying a winter coat; you’re buying a house.’ It needs to be treated differently.”

In addition, Zank understands the gravity of buying a home from the clients’ perspective. This may upset Lipowski’s customers at first, but her honesty about their ability to afford certain loans ends up saving every party involved both time and money, as well as providing Lipowski with a certain amount of confidence regarding her commission.

“[Agents] are putting their confidence in your hands, and without having our kind of relationship, they don’t know that their deal is going to close,” Zank says. “If anyone puts a loan in my hands, I’m going to tell them the truth from the very beginning.”

Reliability

“I know whenever there is a mortgage issue and I give it to Zank, it gets done. There is no question,” Lipowski says. “She always has her phone on, she’s always reachable and she gets it done. If someone comes to us and wants a house and a loan, we will make it work for them.”

There are situations in which Lipowski’s clients may be distrustful of loan officers, or have a certain person whom they prefer to use. Regardless of who is handling a specific deal, Lipowski always knows she can refer her purchasing clients and, in some cases, clients looking to sell property, to Zank for sound advice regarding their loan or assets. This has paid huge dividends.

“If you’ve got a dependable loan officer that will do anything and everything for you and your clients, you’ve got it. It’s almost a sell,” Lipowski says. “I can’t tell you all the repeat business she gets. When I sell a house, the clients continue to send their friends to Zank because they were so impressed with their own experience.”

“A lot of clients don’t go with the Realtor referral,” adds Zank. “She’ll have the clients call and ask me questions to help them feel more confident in the transaction. Whether I’m involved in the transaction or not, I’ll always help her because she’s my friend. I’ll always do what I can to make her clients feel better.”

Honest communication between the two friends and their clients, as well as dependable financial results, creates a great level of trust. It has sustained the relationship between Lipowski and Zank for the duration of their friendship and business relationship.

“We had some deals where we sweated at the table, but they always work out because we work well together,” Lipowski says. “If it’s a bad [situation], Zank will come up with every solution possible for [clients] to get the loan, and if they can’t afford that house, I’ll take them to another one.”

It is their shared pragmatism, dependability and zeal that continues to impress their clients, and has proven mutually beneficial for their respective businesses. Zank and Lipowski both have friendships with many of their other clients and colleagues. Lipowski runs a dog shelter, and fosters relationships with her colleagues because many of them have adopted pets from her. However, it is clear that they feel the same about each other.

“We’re kindred sisters,” Lipowski says. “We have a lot in common.”

Having a lot in common was just the start for Zank and Lipowski, but their ability to communicate well with each other and their clients, seal the deal regularly and put clients in the homes they love has grown their relationship as professionals and friends.