Dressed to sell

By Nicole DeCosta

The Lake Oswego Review, Mar 6, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Here Mahsa Darabi checks email at a Lake Oswego Starbucks. She says staying in touch with her clients is crucial.

Vern Uyetake / Lake Oswego Review

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At 24 years old, real estate broker Mahsa Darabi – dressed in a matching tan, fitted-jacket and pencil skirt – exudes the professionalism of a seasoned expert. Outside Starbucks on State Street in Lake Oswego she scans through house listings on her laptop and returns clients’ phone calls.

She is well spoken, personable and listens more than she talks. Perhaps it’s her poise, posture and attentiveness to her surroundings that sets her apart. Her eight-year professional modeling career may be a contributing factor.

Others seated at neighboring outdoor tables can’t help but converse with her. And she chats and smiles – her light blue eyes pierce though the afternoon sunshine.

Darabi, a 2001 graduate of Lake Oswego High School, works as a real estate broker at Windermere Realty Group, located on Carman Drive. Her family resides in Lake Oswego and she spent the last couple of years marketing Portland Metro-area properties, and spending time in her favorite area.

“Real estate is all about people and building relationships. That’s what I like to do, so it came naturally to me,” Darabi said. “Being that person that hands them the key to their dream home, that’s the best feeling.”

Balancing a home life, and two careers – as a model with the Portland talent agency Ryan Artists and full-time broker – Darabi said both career paths found her naturally.

“I think houses are like people. (Houses) have their own personalities. They tell a story. I always tell my clients, you’ll know it’s the right house when you walk in and its got that feeling,” Darabi said. “I truly believe that a house is alive.”

Being the thread

Darabi acts as a thread, to hold the transaction and home-buying or selling process together for her clients.

“Take care of your client, take care of your client, take care of your client,” she said. “Our goal is to make (finding a house) a seamless process.”

And Darabi credits her success to the balances she achieves between her personal and professional lives – she works hard to play hard.

“In this business, if you’re not consistent you’re not going to make it,” Darabi said. “Some people think real estate is part time. It’s not if you want to be successful. You need to be consistent and set boundaries.”

Darabi refers to the notion that real estate agents are always, “on call.” Darabi said that she takes her job very seriously and arrives in her office about 9 a.m. She said that she’s very productive and completes more tasks in a day than some people complete in a week.

“It’s because when I’m focused on real estate, that’s what I’m doing,” Darabi said, “not running errands.”

But at 6 p.m. she turns her cell phone off and nestles into her home life with her husband of two years.

“If it’s a life threatening emergency – which usually, real estate is not – call my home phone. No problem,” Darabi said. “I don’t believe you can go home and work every night and every weekend and be a normal person.”

Within her few years as a licensed broker, Darabi said she has closed “difficult deals,” made life-long friends and learned what is truly important to her – relationships.

“The first transaction taught me to be patient, and not emotional,” she said. “Be emotional enough so that you’re a person, but at all times have your client’s best interests in mind.”

Darabi continued, “The harder the transaction, the better Realtor you become. You learn to tackle obstacles. And at the end of the day the most important thing is open communication – with the other Realtor and the client.”

Her co-workers admire her ambition.

“What I appreciate about her is her attitude and her enthusiasm. It really carries over to her competence and problem solving (abilities),” said Craig Zimber, vice president of Windermere Realty Group, who also works at the Lake Oswego West office.

“It’s nice to see when people she knows call her for advice, asking, ‘how’s the market doing? What should I be doing right now?’ It’s nice to see that people look to her as a resource.”

Darabi said that she’s not afraid to dream big and have a vision.

“But if you’re a good person, you’ll attract positive things in your life,” she said.

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