Whom Are You Hiring?

I recently ran into a post about one of these newish semi-online brokerages, and I came to think that as the “why yes” is being heavily pushed by these companies, you don’t really see the why not’s quite as much. But people like me like to do things online, it's quick. It's easy. It's simple. I use social media on a daily basis in several different forms. I purchase most of my stuff online, and Amazon is on the first screen of my iPhone. I cannot remember the last time I was watching “old fashioned” TV, as my TV comes through Hulu Plus, Netflix and Amazon. I don’t run to the library to do research, I Google, I Bing and I research online whether we are talking real estate or anything else. So, I understand the buying a home online thought. They make it sound like you sit on your couch and then you go click, click, click and you have a home. You get a discount too, because you don’t need as much services, it is all online after all... the pictures, the tour and the pricing. And who wouldn't want to save money?

But. This is a home. Your home. It’s not your groceries, your toilet paper, your books, tv or clothes. And everyone whom have clicked the online photos and videos, and then seen the home have at least once ran into a situation where the home was not quite what you thought it would be. It could have been better, but more likely there were things the pictures kinda failed to mention, like the neighbor’s RV growing grass on top of it in front of your house. That was not a part of the video tour or the photoshopped images that made the grass look greener and the yard three times the size it was.

Well, okay. You still get to see the home before you make the leap, even with the online brokerages. And for some people, especially sellers it is all about the money they save, and it works well for them. Not all of us are looking for white glove service, some of us are quite happy with less, and in the current market, there most certainly are homes that don’t require much more than a sign in the yard, and pictures online to sell. So why would you not use a discount, or an online brokerage? You know, going to MacDonald’s for dinner isn’t quite the same as John Howie, and we don’t expect it to be either. But I think it would be fair to know that you cannot expect the John Howie experience from a fast food chain, and this is where I think most people do not know what they are buying into.

 Getting Your Home Ready

Okay, so you’ve decided to sell and now you need to make your home presentable. Or do you? Well, curb appeal is curb appeal and if you want potential buyers to actually stop their cars and come all the way in, the first impression better be appealing. Does selling mean you have to first put tens of thousand in the house in order to get your money out of it? No, but some paint and a flooring without a trail in it may be helpful. As a broker, I will help you with a professional stager. I’m not giving you a quick consult or a website, but I will actually be there picking paints with you, and it is not unheard of having your broker pull on the coveralls and go painting with you. There will be no, "I’m sure you can figure it out". Do you think an online broker will paint your living room with you? Well, I guess that could happen, if you paint Monday through Friday, nine to five.

Staging does not mean your own furniture won’t work. It means making your home look it’s best. It’s like applying a little mascara and lip gloss, and maybe putting some concealer on that zit. Staging is helping people visualize the potential of the home, and a well-staged home does sell quicker than one that is put on the market without any help. A professional stager will also help you decide on what needs to go, how to declutter and what to do to steer looks away from things that are maybe less attractive. Never underestimate presentation.

Umm… Broker, Broker!

It’s Friday night at 8 PM when you find your dream home. Well, gimme a call! I leave my phone downstairs when I go to bed, but other than that my phone goes with me everywhere. There is no matter too small or big to reach out. Sometimes you just need to vent or you need someone to tell you it’s going to be okay. Call your broker! We don’t come with office hours and we work in the wee hour if something needs to happen. We stand next to the inspector with you. We watch the plumber do their plumbing thing, because we have an agency relationship with you and we want to do our best to make things go smoothly. I do not work business hours, because, most likely you do, and you need me outside of those hours. Hey, 7 PM is my business hours. Brokerages with salaried brokers tend to have brokers with working hours, you know, also known as business hours. Then they go home and make dinner for their kids, and grab that phone again in the morning. You might have a help desk to call, but it’s not your broker, it’s the help desk helper over there.

I will also serve you for all your real estate needs. Not only your Redmond or Bellevue needs, but also your second home in San Juan Island or ski chalet in the mountains type of needs. Also, if you decide that Bellevue wasn’t for you after all, and want to look in Carnation or Snohomish because you got a sudden urge to become a chicken farmer. I will still be your broker. I will not tell you that we are now out of my area, and I need to refer you to another broker. As I’m only licensed in the state of Washington, I will refer you to someone when your aunt wants to sell their home in Texas, or you want to sell your third home in Rome but I will find you a broker instead of giving you a 1-800 number to call.

If you want me there, I will be with you at closing. I will walk the entire way with you from signing the listing agreement to closing, or from our first appointment to looking at fifty homes to the ups and downs of writing an offer and getting it accepted, all the way to closing. I will negotiate for you, I will talk to the agent on the other side and I will work with escrow and your lender to ensure things happen when they should. I will not send you to my closing broker or open house broker. I am your closing and open house broker. From beginning to end.

I also have a team of highly capable, extremely experienced professionals that I work with. I bounce off ideas, I talk and I reflect for your benefit. Because, you deserve it! Always, even on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings.

Pricing is Just Math

Yes. Pricing is math and there are programs that are good at math. Those programs though, they don’t look at the comparable properties very closely. They do math with calculated parameters.  They make sure they are similar in age, size and condition, but they don’t know that the neighbors dead boat is parked in front of one, and there is no boat in front of the other one. They don’t look at the location all that closely, and a computer program comparable may be located next to I-405 or a busy street. It’s math but you would have to look at the math from different perspectives. I usually approach pricing from at least four different directions, and after I’m done I check a couple of most used pricing websites to see what they are thinking. I check those because I know you’re checking them too. Coming up with a sales price is also different from figuring out the purchase price. At the end of the day the market is a bit of a wild card and it does have the mind of its own and we can only predict. We have seen homes sell for way higher we ever thought they would because out there, there was a buyer too tired and/or desperate to see if their offer would be good enough. And who knows, maybe your neighbor ends up listing a day after you, for way cheaper. That’d be a party pooper.

When We Say Goodbye

The closing day arrives. If you bought a home, I bought you home warranty. If you sold yours you had a listing warranty. Our ways will part. Not. You can still reach me from that same number. I cannot solve your problems the way I did during the process of buying or selling, but I will point you to the professional that can help you. I will send you monthly notes on how to maintain your home, and make sure the Home Warranty company has treated you well as my goal is that the next time you are selling or buying, I am still your broker.

So, it all comes down to what you want. The choice is yours and maybe you are happy buying or selling with less attention, kinda DIY with an MLS number. Maybe I'm old fashioned but I think buying and selling a home is a big deal.