The following article was published in a local Mooresville paper.

Business Jack's Way
By: Jack Severens

I moved to the Lake Norman area in July of 2006. To prepare for moving here I first had to find a place to live. This is a bit of a challenge from 3000 miles away in California. And being that I had only visited the area once I didn't even know which neighborhoods or towns would suit me and my family. I e-mailed several Realtors in the area to request help. However when most of them found out that I was interested in renting first their enthusiasm for helping me significantly diminished. When I say significantly I mean I couldn't even get a return e-mail. That was the sad case until I met Jack Thesier. Not only did Jack return my e-mails but when I told him that I would be coming out for a week to look at places to live he said that he would spend as much time with me as it took to find the perfect rental. Jack gave me directions to his office in downtown Mooresville. The name of his company is Newcastle Realty with the sister corporation, Dazcon Properties. When I first met with Jack he took the time to interview me. He wanted to know more about us, what we like to do, what were our hobbies, what were our dreams. At the end of the interview Jack grinned and said, "I'll show you as many properties as you like but you'll end up in Winslow Bay" Wow, pretty confident, I thought. Jack and his business partner Joel spent the bulk of the week with me showing me properties. One night they had me over for dinner at Jack's house and they cooked steamed crab legs and steamed clams with all the trimmings.

Toward the end of the week with Jack and Joel I happened to glance at some of the rental paperwork that Jack had in his car. I noticed that his potential commission was listed on the paperwork. The figure quoted on the document was $160. I said to Jack, "You're kidding right? You have just spent almost a full week of your time with me for a sum total of $160.?" He smiled and said, "It will all work out in the wash, trust me" I did trust Jack. Not because he was silly enough to work for pennies but because he cared about me as a person and a friend. I choose a rental property in Winslow Bay. It was perfect and Jack knew it would be all along.

After we moved to North Carolina from California Jack and Joel proceeded to stay in touch. They would invite me over for Monday night football or a yummy dinner on occasions. I have to admit that none of the dinners were quite as yummy as the Crab legs and steamer clams but that's a pretty high standard to set. But the numerous varieties of chili that they prepare for Super Bowl Sunday are pretty unbelievable. Additionally, knowing that I was searching for a job Jack invited me to a business networking group entitled BNI and introduced me to everyone he knew there. A few short weeks later I had landed a job through one of the contacts that I met at BNI.

When our one year lease on the rental property was about to expire I decided that I wanted to buy a home in the neighborhood. Winslow Bay had in fact proven to be just perfect and the kids loved all the playmates that they had made in this very warm and friendly neighborhood. I called Jack up and said, "Jack, I'd like to look at homes for sale in Winslow Bay." There were three for sale at the time. I walked through all three with Jack or Joel and decided on one that was perfect for the family. This transaction probably cost Jack less than 10 hours total. Jack was perfectly right back in July of 2006, it did all work out in the wash.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all business people got this concept? This is not just a Realtor thing, this is a business thing. If businesses are going to survive in this economy they are going to need to do it with the future in mind. Not just thinking about todays sale but thinking about next years sale as well as the possible referral business that is at stake. We should all remember to do business "Jack's Way"