“Women are too nice. Be rude.”
So says Laura Scott, a broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman who’s done the unthinkable: been a single woman and bought her own home.
Ms. Scott was the guest speaker Tuesday night at the first of three events called “Live the Life you Love,” hosted by lifestyle company Single Edition Media in partnership with Spark Networks (of such dating Web sites as JDate.com and ChristianMingle.com).
Just under 100 people turned out to listen to experts discuss real estate, finance, insurance and legal issues that single women face – and where else but at the shoe department at Saks Fifth Avenue?
Some attendees nibbled on fruit and cheese, sipped Nuvo cocktails (a hot pink sparkling French liqueur) and Vitamin Water, while others enjoyed manicures, makeovers and spritzes of Chanel No. 5 perfume.
But Single Edition Media’s founder, Sherri Langburt made her intentions for the event series perfectly clear: “I didn’t want this to be another dating mixer.”
(And let’s get this out of the way quickly: Ken Shoen, the guest legal expert and managing partner at Bonner Kiernan Treback & Crociata LLP, made the night’s only reference to Sex and the City, saying that Miranda would have certainly been sure to have all of her legal paperwork together.)
Twanna Hines, a 34-year-old attendee, pointed out that while the content presented would likely have been universally useful to both men and women, if the fellas were invited it would have turned into just the type of dating event Ms. Langburt said she was trying to avoid.
“There is huge interest on the part of single women to purchase homes,” Ms. Scott, the Douglas Elliman broker, said during the real estate portion of the event. “They are absolutely the largest growth population.”
And yet when it comes to real estate, she says, “Women feel vastly underserved, undervalued, underestimated and often feel very patronized.” This feeling keeps many single women from taking the plunge to own property. Ms. Scott’s advice for all the single ladies? Assert yourself, and the rest is just about being organized; Ms. Scott suggests making absolutely sure all of your paperwork is in order, and then contacting a mortgage pro.
As the event drew to a close and the last of the hors d’oeuvres disappeared, the waitlist for manicures finally dwindled. Ms. Langburt, the woman behind Single Edition Media and the events, said she was pleased with the turnout, and was especially impressed with the Q and A portion of the evening.
“I think tonight was very serious,” said Ms. Langburt. “There were very mature conversations.”
As an added bonus for being attentive during all of the night’s serious talk, attendees received a 15 percent discount at Saks, along with freebees from Chanel, the Vitamin Shoppe, Derma E and Revolution Tea. Each also went home with her very own bottle of the aforementioned hot pink elixir.
