By Living Room Realty, March 14, 2020
Real estate is a peculiar business, and like no other. We REALTORS® compete for business, but also cooperate with each other, acting as buyer agent and seller agent, to sell a home together. In this community, the cooperating agent is crucial to making a deal better. Not easier, but better. I have learned so much from the co-op agents I’ve worked with.
It is with much sadness that I learned of the passing of a truly great agent this week. Celia Lyon was an icon in this industry. She was everything you look for in an agent: tough but fair, encouraging but real, present and engaged.
I was lucky enough to work with her on a few sales here in Portland. And just in case you thought real estate was all gleaming hardwoods and en suites, it’s not. This house was a challenge to sell, to say the least.
Me: Feral cats roaming under house, rotted joists, furnace broke!
Celia: We can make this work
Me: Sky is falling! Buyer is freaking!
Celia: No worries
Celia was an artist.
She taught me so much about how to keep a tough deal on track. Even when I wrote feces in the repair addendum, which caused a bit of an uproar with the underwriter, she kept us on track. Sure, she chastised me for that, but it also taught me to never write feces into a repair addendum.
Celia did so much for the LGBTQ community, the real estate community, and her clients. Her devotion to friends and family was clear. My sincere condolences to her wife Barb, her family and her framily. May you find some comfort in knowing her impact is lasting, she was an amazing agent, and she will be greatly missed.
Thank you Celia. RIP Celia.
