Real Estate Satisfaction... Does the expression "I guarantee it" make you smile? After all, UrbanDictionary.com defines the expression as "A term meaning 'I agree!' ... Mostly used when no guarantee is in sight or even possible. As in 'It's cold outside! I guarantee it!'"

Well, it turns out that the Staubach Company actually means it. As Sheila Muto wrote in the Wall Street Journal last week (May 5, 2004), quoting a company spokesperson, "Staubach has offered a satisfaction guarantee -- or 'unconditional guarantee of value' -- to clients since its inception and intends to continue to do so."

According to the Wall Street Journal, the issue of Staubach's guarantee surfaced as a result of a dispute over payment of "a nearly $2.3 million brokerage fee stemming from the disposition of 158,625 square feet of leased office space in San Francisco." (Apparently, the issue is being settled out of court.)

For those of you too young to remember Roger Staubach and the dominant Dallas Cowboys of the 1980s, maybe it’s a football thing. After all, Joe Namath famously guaranteed that the New York Jets would beat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in 1969. And, yes, despite being 18-point underdogs, the Jets prevailed.

What a great concept -- a written guarantee of real estate satisfaction. Sure, everybody tells their clients, "We want you to be happy." But how many other firms put that commitment in writing? Does anybody else?

Spread the Word... Many thanks to Walter Homan, CEO of MACH Energy, for sponsoring this week's Dispatch. MACH Energy provides a web-based, energy monitoring tool for commercial office properties. If you would like to tell Dispatch readers about your services, send e-mail or call 415-485-6700.

--Peter Pike