Updated September 2026If you are trying to determine whether you can afford a home in Apollo Beach, the mortgage payment is only the starting point.The real cost depends on the home itself, its
YEP, THAT WAS ME
Dated: August 25 2026
Views: 74
YEP. THAT WAS ME.There are some things you probably shouldn't tell your Realtor until you know exactly who you're talking to.
Kam learned that one sitting in the car with me.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Kamala had been thinking about selling her house for quite a while before she was actually ready to do it.
We had lots of conversations before the sign ever went in the yard. We talked about the market, what she needed to do to get the house ready, pricing, timing and what selling was starting to look like as our market shifted.
And when she finally decided it was time, she did everything right.
Seriously.
If I could hand every seller a little instruction manual titled How to Be Kamala, my job would be considerably easier.
She got the house ready. She kept it ready. She accommodated showings and made sure everything looked beautiful when buyers came through.
And she had cats.
Which meant every showing involved gathering up the cats and getting everybody out of the house, only to have buyers occasionally show up late. Or really late. Or, everyone's favorite, not show up at all.
This was also right around the time our market was becoming noticeably more difficult for sellers. Showings were slowing down. Buyers had more choices. They weren't rushing anymore.
They were taking their sweet time.
Patience was becoming part of the job for both of us.
There were frustrating days. Kamala is a woman of faith, and more than once, she and I prayed together about getting her house sold and finding the right place for her to go next.
Her house was in the same neighborhood where I live, so I was close by, and during all those months of talking, preparing, showing, praying and waiting, Kamala and I got to know each other pretty well.
By the time we finally got her house under contract, we weren't just Realtor and client anymore.
We were friends.
And now we needed to find her somewhere to go.
The reason for the move was pretty practical. Her property taxes had climbed higher than she wanted after building her home, and as a single woman, she liked the idea of something a little smaller, with lower carrying costs and maybe even some maintenance included.
So we started driving around the area looking at houses.
And somewhere along the way, Kamala started telling me about the house.
You know the one. The house she had loved.
Before building the home I was now selling for her, Kamala had actually been under contract on another house in Apollo Beach.
And she had REALLY wanted that house.
She especially loved the kitchen. It was big and bright, with white cabinets and these cheerful yellow walls that carried right into the dining area.
Years later, she could still describe that kitchen to me.
This wasn't just some house she'd once lost.
This was the house she never quite got over.
It had happened during a completely different real estate market. Sellers had the upper hand. Multiple offers were common. Buyers had to move quickly, and sometimes you had to get creative to win.
Kamala had managed to get this particular house under contract, but her contract had something called a kick-out clause.
And this is where her story gets unusual.
Kick-out clauses are incredibly rare.
Plenty of Realtors can go their entire careers without ever dealing with one. Some may never even come across one in an actual transaction.
The simplest explanation is that a seller accepts an offer with a contingency but keeps the ability to consider another offer. If a stronger buyer comes along, the first buyer gets a very short window to remove that contingency or lose the house.
That's what happened to Kamala.
Another family came along with cash. Kamala got her notice, couldn't remove her contingency, and lost the house.
Now I'm sitting in the car listening to Kamala tell me this story.
And Kamala wasn't just disappointed about what had happened.
Oh no.
Kamala was STILL MAD.
Years later mad.
She couldn't believe another Realtor would even do something like that.
Who sees a house already under contract and thinks, You know what? Let's go take that one.
She couldn't believe there was even a strategy in real estate that allowed another buyer to come along and knock her out of the house she already thought was hers.
And that Realtor?
Oh, she had some thoughts about that Realtor.
She did NOT like her.
At all.
Kamala is going on about this woman. What kind of Realtor does something like that? How could she do that to somebody? Who operates that way?
And at first, I'm right there with her. Listening, nodding, being appropriately sympathetic.
Then she mentions the kick-out clause again.
And something starts sounding familiar.
Really familiar.
Because here's the problem.
When somebody tells you about a normal real estate transaction, it could be one of hundreds.
When somebody tells you about a kick-out clause?
That's a much shorter list.
I'm getting quieter. Kamala is getting more animated. She's giving me more details, and I'm giving her fewer responses.
She's talking about those buyers, that cash offer, that Realtor, that house she loved.
And somewhere in the middle of all of this, a horrible little thought enters my head.
Wait.
I'm trying to remember exactly how many transactions I've ever been involved with that had a kick-out clause.
Honestly, 2.
Kamala keeps going.
At this point, I'm squirming in my seat. I'm sitting on my hands. I've stopped nodding, and I've definitely stopped agreeing with her.
And now I'm silently begging her:
Please stop talking.
But Kamala does not stop talking.
She has waited YEARS to tell someone about this Realtor.
And apparently today is the day.
She's telling me how awful the whole thing was, and I'm sitting there getting more uncomfortable with every identifying detail.
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.
"Kamala..."
She stopped.
"Was this house in Waterset?"
"Yes."
Oh no.
Please say no to the next question.
"Was it on Crestpoint?"
She looked at me.
"Yes."
Well.
There it was.
I knew the house. I knew the cash buyers.
And unfortunately, I knew that terrible Realtor quite well.
It was me.
There was really no graceful way out of this.
"Kamala..."
By now she could tell something was wrong.
"Yep. That was me."
She stared at me.
You could almost watch the pieces connecting.
And then:
"OH NO."
A beat.
"YOU were that terrible Realtor who did that to me?!"
Yep.
That was me.
The Realtor she had apparently spent years disliking. The Realtor whose strategy she couldn't believe. The Realtor she couldn't understand how anyone could possibly do business that way.
She had been sitting beside her all along.
And thankfully, by this point, we knew each other well enough that it was funny.
Really funny.
Because here's the other side of the story.
I hadn't actually done anything to Kamala. I didn't even know Kamala.
I was representing another family, and my job was to do everything I ethically and legally could to help them get the house they wanted.
There was already a kick-out clause in the existing contract. My buyers were in a position to make a stronger offer. The seller chose to accept it, and the contract worked exactly the way it was written.
I had simply been doing my job for my clients.
Of course, that explanation probably sounds considerably more reasonable when you're not the person who just lost your dream house.
To Kamala, some Realtor had swooped in with cash buyers and taken away the house she loved.
And she had never forgotten her.
What gets me is everything that had to happen for us to eventually have that conversation.
First, Kamala had to end up in one of the relatively rare transactions involving a kick-out clause.
Then I had to be the Realtor on the other side of it.
Years later, out of all the Realtors she could have called when she decided to sell, she somehow called me.
Neither one of us made the connection.
She hired me. Trusted me with the sale of her home. Spent countless hours talking to me. Got through the frustrations of a changing market with me. Prayed with me. Drove all over looking at houses with me.
And somewhere along the way, we became friends.
All before she discovered I was that Realtor.
Maybe there was more than a little grace in the timing of all of it.
Kamala and I had prayed together about getting her house sold and finding the right next home for her. Neither one of us had any idea that years before we met, our paths had already crossed.
She just knew me then as the Realtor she couldn't stand.
Maybe God knew it was better to let her meet me first before filling her in on that little detail.
Because Kamala got the chance to know me before she knew who I was in that old story. She got to form a completely different opinion of me without either one of us knowing she already had one.
And I got the rare privilege of sitting quietly beside her while one of my best clients explained, in considerable detail, exactly how awful she thought I was.
We still laugh about it.
And by the grace of God, Kamala and I are still good friends.
So if you're ever sitting in the car telling your Realtor about that absolutely terrible Realtor who did something to you years ago, maybe don't get too far into the story.
Because eventually she may have to look over at you and say...
Yep. That was me.
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Shawna Calvert
Shawna Calvert: A Realtor Committed to Excellence, Service, and Client SatisfactionIf you are searching for a real estate agent in Apollo Beach or across the Tampa Bay waterfront market, you deserve t....
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All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither listing broker(s) or information provider(s) shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, misprints and shall be held totally harmless. Listing(s) information is provided for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.
Updated on September 25, 2026 2:58 AM UTC
All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither listing broker(s) or information provider(s) shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, misprints and shall be held totally harmless. Listing(s) information is provided for consumer's personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. The data relating
