Archive for the ‘Real Estate Agent’ Category

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Pop the Champagne!


2010
04.15

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Posted in Buying a Home, Closing, Real Estate Agent, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Day 12 -

 

We are now the proud owners of a home!

 

Closing today was pretty uneventful. We did our good cop/bad cop routine, made sure transfer taxes were split 50/50, and that we weren’t paying for homeowners insurance through escrow, and tried to combat the incredibly high property taxes (we will have to go to the mattresses with the county on this one). All in all, not too shabby. And it’s over! YES!

 

The interesting part of the day was the final walk-through. Now, I mentioned how we found in the contract that the seller had to fix all prior termite damage. Well, I was thinking it was a few baseboards and maybe a square foot of drywall. What awaited us in the basement was surely not that. These people had to replace two whole walls! Like 8 sheets of drywall, insulation and framing. The contractor took photos of the termite damage as they were doing demo, and then more demo, and more… These little critters were not just a colony of termites out for a picnic. Oh, no, this was a whole country of termites feasting on Christmas Dinner (the whole 12 days of Christmas and New Years too). I could not believe these pictures. But… (happy sigh) It’s all fixed! Thank God! Just imagine if we had not read the contract through and not insisted on having that repaired. It was only a matter of time before those basement walls crumbled and took the rest of the house with them. And we would never have known the extent of the damage had the sellers not refused to remediate the mold and radon! Oh ho ho, I’m glad they were stubborn. Just desserts indeed!

 

As we close this chapter of our adventures in real estate I’d like to give a couple of shout outs. Thank you Ann for the wine, the advice, answering all our questions and helping us keep our sense of humor! You rock! And special thanks to Roxie, our fantastic real estate agent, for the sweet gift, for thinking of the kids and for being there for us throughout this incredible journey. We found ourselves the best agent around! Couldn’t imagine this adventure without you! Hope we will be remembered in your future endeavors as the fun and… not too demanding… clients who made you laugh along the way. ;)

 

Oh, but my friends… for you, it’s not over. We are now remodeling a house! Stay tuned!

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Finding a Real Estate Agent


2010
01.15

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Day 19 – Nothing New

 

My husband and I must know 15 real estate agents. 5 or 6 of them are close friends. This time around we were both determined to keep everything strictly business, and the only way to do that was with a stranger. So we shopped for one. We started by looking at the top agencies in our area. Finding out who they are is not too hard. You can tell by the signs in the front lawns. Then we looked within those companies for the people with the most listings and successes in our immediate area, eliminated the close friends and people who looked like psycho killers and narrowed it down to a few. Then… we e-mailed them… and waited. It was a race to see who would call back first. Not 10 minutes later the phone rang. I gave Agent “A” the run down, was completely honest (a new trait I’m trying out) about our situation and set up an appointment for a few days out.

 

Agent “A” brought with her, her counterpart, Agent “AA”. These two women were a sketch, a complete carbon copy of one another. They could and actually did finish each others sentences. And when one would interrupt the other I waited for the look of “I can’t believe you’re interrupting me again”, but it never came. They were the Bobbsey Twins. Joined at the hip. They even looked alike. They were a team. I was intrigued. They spent about 2 hrs. talking with us about the market where it is and where we would be. But only five minutes looking at the house which perplexed and annoyed me considering I spent all morning cleaning it for them. Where was the admiration? The compliments? But they seemed to know what they were talking about and were tops in their field (they showed us many awards and accolades to prove it.) And even though they gave me the bad news that I probably wasn’t going to get what I wanted for the house, I was sold. They meant business. I liked them… That was until we met Roxie.

 

Yes, Roxie, not her real name, but I think it fits her so I’ll call her Roxie. I was so sold on Agent “A” and “AA” that I didn’t even want to bother meeting with Roxie. After all, it did take Roxie an hour to call back after the email. But all was forgiven. We really, just… clicked with her, and after all this talk about strictly business, I couldn’t help but feel my house was in good hands. I suppose instincts are somewhat important. She also spent, what I’m beginning to think is the, standard 2hrs. speaking with us about the market but Roxie actually looked at the house for more than 5 minutes, which I appreciated because I had cleaned again! And hey, I received a few compliments too! We both have kids the same age, and we dug her background. She works for what we think is the right company for this area and has proven success and new ideas.

 

There were other interviews too, including a woman who I could swear reminded me of Annette Bening in “American Beauty”, a bit too perky for my taste. But, we had found our realtor in Roxie! I’m not saying she is the perfect real estate agent, after all… SHE HASN’T SOLD OUR HOUSE YET! Day 19 and counting. We’re still waiting Roxie!

 

By the way, Agent “A” and “AA” dropped off the face of the planet. We never did get a follow-up phone call. They must have gotten their “Wonder-Twin” powers crossed.