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Bob Hertzel, a real estate agent with Jeanette Dryburgh & Associates in Westport and current Realtor of the Year for the Mid-Fairfield County Association of Realtors, enjoys the challenge of meeting new clients, listening to their needs and surprising them with well-researched finds they would not have thought of otherwise.
Hertzel has a lot of patience and persistance, qualities that come in handy when dealing with clients trying to decide which house to buy. He often works with customers for well over a year before finding and negotiating that perfect house. "I love watching them smile at transaction closings," he says.
But he finds the banking industry frustrating in his work. He doesn't like the power of banks to kill a good deal and believes the pendulum has swung too far toward over-regulation. "Common sense should go a lot further in any transaction," he says.
Hertzel became an agent shortly after Klein's, a landmark on Westport's Main Street, closed in 2004. "I helped run Klein's for over 20 years," he says. Klein's sold books, photographic equipment, stationery and gift items. "Klein's was a family-owned business that had been around for 67 years," he says. "Sadly, that run ended in 2004." A Banana Republic store now rents the space where Westporters once shopped for books and gifts.
Hertzel and his wife, Susanne Klein, have moved several times in their 28 years in Connecticut, enjoying the process. The idea of selling homes appealed to him so he researched the daily life of an agent. He decided it might be a good fit for him. "Like any job, this one has its peaks and valleys," he says. "But with patience, persistence and a little bit of luck, I believe in the process - and the rewards it brings to our clients."
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