A letter of Recommendation
It was because of a high recommendation that we met with Susan to discuss selling our home. We were very impressed with Susan’s professionalism and had no hesitation in choosing her as our realtor that day.
There are a number of ways in which Susan’s service has stood out from the rest:
Excellent marketing
As Susan explained, the first 2-3 weeks on the market are critical. Therefore, she spends a significant amount of time in the preparation stage to present your property at its best.
In our case, Susan came over, with notepad in hand, to go through each room of our house explaining what we needed to fix, de-clutter, or pack away. Once completed, this “staging” of our home formed the basis of Susan’s marketing plan. At her own expense, she had floor plans drafted up of our home. She also arrived with a photographer to shoot stills and 360 degree views of our key rooms and exterior (including 360 degree views of key areas of our neighbourhood). Everything was then posted on her website, and the Realtylink & MLS websites. In addition, she advertised our property through the weekly realty newspaper, and flyer distribution. All of this occurred rapid-fire and ensured that our property arrived on the market with a bang.
Innate business sense
We were feeling a bit apprehensive about the sale of our home because we were listing it in a “soft” market. There were many homes for sale, only a few buyers and prices were falling. However, Susan has years of experience as a realtor and she stays on top of the current trends. She was thorough in her market research and has excellent business sense. We felt that her suggested listing price was bang-on. It was a fair price for both seller and buyer and therefore would generate interest. As a consequence, we received multiple offers in a slow market and completed the sale within 10 days.
Service oriented
Susan updated us daily and sometimes several times per day, by phone or e-mail, while our home was on the market and responded to our phone messages promptly. She was always available to show our home, and in addition to private viewings, she held 2 open houses for our property on consecutive weekends. From the report she gave us, it was evident that she did not merely sit in our home and hand out fact sheets. In the same way that we felt immediately comfortable with her, the people attending the open houses must have felt the same way, because she had spoken with each group coming through, knew of their background and what they were in the market for. She followed up the next day with any group that had expressed initial interest. In any of her dealings with potential buyers, she never came across as pushy or aggressive. Susan is friendly and easy to talk to.
The art of negotiating
This is perhaps her greatest strength. Looking back, we see how, with much diplomacy, she helped both parties maintain realistic expectations. At the same time, she was very much on our side and didn’t lose sight of our goal. Acting as a facilitator, she was very professional and maintained a good relationship with all parties involved. Her depth of experience allowed her to point out to us the pros and cons in each potential decision, but supported our final decision without bias. We felt confident in taking her advice and were satisfied with the outcome. It was a quick sale, in a slow market, with falling prices. The final result was a win-win situation for both seller and buyer – the best case scenario.
Beyond the call of duty
KEPT AN EYE ON OUR HOME
We were out of province for almost 3 weeks and Susan stopped by regularly to check on our home. She even watered all our house plants and potted exterior plants.
HELPED US RELOCATE
We had not yet found a house we wanted to purchase and were therefore thinking of renting short-term. Through word of mouth, we heard of a rental property that was coming available. We were still out of province, so Susan kindly offered to meet with the landlord and took pictures of the property and interior to e-mail to us. She gave us an accurate description of the condition of the rental property so that we could decide on whether or not it would be suitable.
In conclusion
In a day and age when good service has fallen by the wayside, Susan stands out as a shining example. Not only does she give excellent service, but time and time again, she went the extra mile for us. We were made to feel as if we were her only client. We have absolutely no hesitation in recommending her services.