Content area
Full text
Geoff (pronounced "Joff") Zimmerman was a contented housewife and mother, busy with charity work and gardening, when she finally responded to a friend's urging to look into selling real estate as a way to earn a little extra money.
That was in 1969. Today, a youthful and energetic 70, she is the owner of Dunnigan Realtors, one of Sacramento's most successful residential real estate firms. And more than able to do "the most frivolous thing I've ever done," purchase a very expensive BMW-Z8 two-seater sports car.
"I'd been driving a Lexus - you know, in real estate, you have to play the part - but I've always wanted a sports car," she said. "So one day, just out of curiosity, I went into a BMW dealer, and I saw this car that really looked great, but no one would wait on me. I'm in a pair of tennis shoes and slacks and I'm driving my grandson's pickup truck, so I guess they thought I was just killing time. Some other people walked in, and they were better dressed and salesmen rushed up to them right away.
"I waited for a half hour and then left, but I still wanted a car so I went into a Mercedes dealership down the street and a salesman helped me and asked if I saw anything I liked. And I told him about the BMW and my experience there, and he said he would call his friend who worked there and tell him.
"That night I called the BMW dealer and when I told them my name the salesman apologized profusely for ignoring me earlier, so I wound up going back down there and they said they would give me a good deal and I bought the car. I probably could have done a lot of useful things with the money it cost me, but I really liked it so I went ahead and bought it."
She loves the car, she says. And she loves coming to work every day, selling real estate.
"It's just such a great feeling, helping people find the home that's just right for them. And then watching the value of the home appreciate, so they feel, years later, that they have even more...