StevePRINCEofrealestate

If a buyer, I have them come to my office where most of my resources are available so they can see homes in their price range, and get pre-qualified by my in-house lender. After finding out the things most important to them, we then start looking at homes, five at a time, typically on a weekend, till we find THE house. For sellers, I always want to preview the home, seeing it through the eyes of a buyer (since buyers ARE the ones who will buy it), point out things that will make it more appealing, as well as have them tell me things about the home that made it important and special to them, so I can use that as marketing for the buyer.

I have been in the business for 23 years. I started off repairing credit for 3 years, ran a mortgage team for 9 years (and I still hold my Loan Originator license), and have sold homes for the past 7 years. I am not only an agent but a broker as well.

Just like a doctor, attorney or CPA, I do have set pricing. But I prefer to disclose that to the client if/when we do business because sellers may require to walk away with a certain amount of money and I don't want to be inflexible in trying to get them as close to that as possible. I do charge transaction fees - Sellers are $850 and Buyers are $350.

Under a small real estate company, I learned what credit bureaus use to grade a person's credit (this was when you could actually talk to someone in the bureau instead of get their automated system), and in turn I used that knowledge to assist buyers in raising their scores to where they could qualify to buy.

I mostly work with customers whom I see face to face in the same state. In some occasions, I have helped sellers who live in another state, sell homes here in California. In other circumstances, I have helped sellers in other states by referring a local agent to them that could better assist them. Lastly, I have also helped buyers who live in other states find homes here in California that they could move into.

After 5 months of searching, I helped buyers find the home of their dreams in a very specific part of Chino Hills. Because of my good communication and negotiating skills, I helped them get the home in a multiple offer situation.

Have a conversation with them on the phone. Ask questions unrelated to the industry that gives you a feel of who they are as a person. If local, meet with them in person. You are hiring a professional so research to see what their website looks like, if they have a rating on Zillow or another real estate website, and find out what technology they are using to help you and them get the job done. We live in the new industrial age of technology. Everyone is using it. If they are not up to speed, they are not marketing properly or don't have as many tools as another agent that you can find more success with.

What is my time frame? How long do I want to give myself to reach my goal? What is most important to me about buying selling? What is the best way to communicate with me when the market may be moving at a fast pace sometimes - text, call or email? If my home has more than one decision-maker when selling, what is the best way to include that person/people? When looking at homes what are the best days/times so that myself and anyone else helping make a decision is involved in the whole process?