How to make buyers feel welcome and accepted, and sellers reassured and taken care of!

I got into the real estate market at an unusual time -- November, 2008! The market was diving, sellers were reeling in the loss of home value and buyers were scared about purchasing a home that would immediately decline in value. 

However, I did not have a past, or memory, of the good old days of the "seller's market"  -- when days on market were in the single digits, multiple offers were not uncommon, buyers paid over asking and didn't bother with inspection issues.  I joined the ranks of realtors when others were fleeing because I knew I had a better product to offer buyers and sellers -- my service and focus on helping clients make INFORMED and thus confident decisions about their real estate investments -- whether it was buying or selling a home. 

I have relocated several times for my husband's career. I know what it is like to come into new market and have to re-invent myself and adjust my family to a new living environment. Learning how to go from outsider to insider in as short a time as possible.  This is why my tag line is "The Neighbor Who Knows..." I strive to be that sort of person to my clients -- helping buyers learn the ins and outs of a new community -- helping sellers prepare for a relocation or a change in home size. And I do this by providing information to my clients -- everything I know about a property or community -- they know.

During past relocations I never really felt like I was getting the whole story--about neighborhoods, school districts, local communities, and other features of where we were moving.  In the relocation to Roswell, Georgia, the agent assigned to us, didn't really take the time to get to listen to our needs and priorities. We came from neighborhoods of old beautiful trees, not the barren, leveled former farm lands that were now new subdivisions.  She didn't "get us" because we were different -- we liked older homes with some character -- not the squeaky clean new construction that was built in weeks.  We liked trees -- we didn't see them as a "nuisance" with falling leaves in the autumn that created a "mess".  

And she didn't get that we were not prepared to make a huge investment decision in just a matter of days -- we took up her time!  Finally I found the type of neighborhood we liked by pushing her limits-- and then -- she didn't bother to do any reseach on the subdivision -- only to find out after we bought that part of it backed up to a "water" treatment plant for the county--AKA "waste" treatment plant.  So began another phase of our community involvement......

Also, an inspection issue that was passed off as "not important" when we were buying the house, suddenly became "major structural issues" when we were selling the house.  Talk about "Buyer Beware!"

For our second relocation I was determined to be better informed.  So I researched everything myself.  I targeted the neighborhood and school.  We took a short term rental in order to learn more about the new town and make sure we were in the right zone.  Only to find out I am now not competing just with other buyers from out of town, with the same lack of information, but INSIDERS -- families who were currently living in town and just waiting for the right house to "move up" to! And they were working with a realtor who had sold their parents their home -- a legacy family paired with a legacy realtor! Once again we were the outsider. 

NEVER AGAIN!  I counsel my buyers in all aspects of a prospective home.  Everything I research about a property -- they know too.  And to me, an important factor in the decision making process is resale value -- will the house hold its value in a potentially declining market. What a the positive and NEGATIVE factors influencing a future buyer's decision. Will the killer updated kitchen outweigh the strange bedroom configuration for a new family?  Will the location trump the outdated bathrooms? Important factors to consider.  In other words, while real estate is highly emotional, I try to help them look at it from a rational decision making point of view.

As a result, in my first year, I was named "rookie of the year for 2009" out of 16 offices.  I was in the the top 40 out of 650 agents in the company.  I was ranked nationally for the company as well.  Other real estate companies came calling. Currently I am pleased to be associated with Allen Tate Realtors, the largest independent real estate firm in the Carolina's, nationally ranked in the top 20, and a founding member of the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World.