Closing Gift Ideas?

I liked my 2% rebate check at my last closing. Beats the fruit basket I got the previous time. Who the hell puts seeded grapes in a fruit basket?

I second Flarf's suggestion. Giving those checks is almost as much fun as getting them.

closing gift? to whom? why?

Received: As a buyer, after the closing I was taken by my broker to a good restaurant near my new neighborhood.

Given: I gave the broker's assistant an AmEx gift card as a thank you for the significant and high quality work she did putting together the board package.

Never received a closing gift at my last sale/purchase. Didn't care since the broker had his hands full dealing with a difficult buyer and seller on our behalf.

Aaron2: The gift card was a generous gesture on your part; I'm sure it was both appreciated and unexpected. I wonder where one draws the line, though, on gratuities to other people's professional and paraprofessional employees. Would you reward a paralegal for good work on a contract? A nurse for assisting capably in your surgery? Would you tip an executive's administrative assistant for securing you an appointment with his boss? A receptionist for bringing you a glass of water while you're waiting?

Again, I commend your generosity. I just hope your broker takes sufficiently good care of her excellent assistant that he doesn't need gifts from clients to make ends meet.

I got a brand new iPad. I had mentioned that I didnt have one.

I had asked my broker about getting something for his ass't, as I felt she really had gone beyond the routine 'get a glass of water while waiting' level of service. He had suggested a gift card (though didn't suggest an amount). She *was* quite surprised -- apparently she'd never received as much as a thank you card from any buyers she had worked with. Considering that we worked directly together, and she was a key participant in creating a presentable board package, all the while keeping it professional and drama free, I thought it was well deserved.

Agree that where one draws the line is flexible and hazy. I work in a field where bonuses and gratuities aren't unusual (e.g., everybody on the team that completed the merger goes to a celebration dinner and gets a fleece jacket), so probably fall to the more generous side of the line.

tipping of professionals is lame--people should be compensated properly by their employers.

I dont like people cutting private deals with my well-paid staff. I expect my staff to service all best can, base on their employment by me, not on whom of my customers tips them best.

Tipping of teachers is really gross--as are those do-gooders who organize pools of parent tips for teachers, and then pose next to all that money, which isnt even theirs to give.

Thanks Aaron. Interesting topic, and one where reasonable people can take completely opposite positions.

One other side note: The way licensing is regulated in New York, I don't think it's strictly legal to ACCEPT that kind of gift. Not your problem, obviously, and it might depend on the amount. If it's an issue, your broker should have dealt with it.

This thread has nothing to do with teachers, yet first after pretending he has his own employees, yikes manages once again to go on a rant involving teachers. Maybe his ex-wife was a teacher, could that be part of the problem? Possibly not since time and time again yikes has come her and displayed an over abundance of acrimony towards just about anyone, including members of his family, and people involved in his personal dealings, and business dealings. But he likes Michael Vick?

Is it typical to give your broker a closing gift or vice versa?

West81: That's why I asked my broker first, in case there was some prohibition against it. The ass't doesn't hold a license, so no problem there. Since it was done after the closing and was fully disclosed, (and without regard to how well she was or wasn't paid by her employer), it's hardly a quid pro quo for preferential treatment.

Aaron2: Thanks for the clarification. You're right - the unlicensed assistant has no exposure. (Not sure about the broker; §440 is pretty complicated.) Again, the gift was a very nice gesture on your part.

tedbearz: Typically, brokers give closing gifts; they don't get them. In the example above, Aaron2's gift was to an unlicensed personal assistant, not to a broker.

ha ha ha.....how about saying thanks and a handshake. WTF gifts for closing....its called a job folks.

Paleeze, it's not like yikes' kid's teacher.

I like to give my buyers a gift certificate for a nice restaurant in their new neighborhood.