What I Will Do For You

My Job Responsibilities

My first responsibility is to enhance the appeal and value of your property for showing. This is important because buyers buy with their emotions and their eyes – and one does not get a second chance to make a good fist impression. Once a sign goes on the front lawn it is no longer a home, but a product for sale. My job is to teach my sellers how to package it for profit and how to properly stage a home. If we get more showings, the buyers looking will get more excited about your property. This will mean a quicker sale and more money.
My second job responsibility is to assist my clients in determining the best asking price. This is important because if you price a property too low, you actually give some of your profit away and if you price it too high, you end up scaring good buyers away. This means you will make a well-informed decision on pricing so that you don’t underprice or overprice. The real advantage is your house will be sold at the highest sales price within your time table and with the fewest problems.
My third job responsibility is to use all the tools possible for total market exposure. We have the Multiple Listing System (MLS), which is the most powerful tool. Almost all serious buyers use agents, and all agents check the MLS. Other strategies, like ads in the paper and open houses, will also help and be paid for by Long and Foster. This is just a part of my marketing for you (we can talk about the rest later). What this means is that we will be a step ahead of our competition and generate more buying interest and more showings. The long term benefit is that we will find that one buyer who will pay top dollar for your home faster.
My fourth responsibility is to make certain that buyers have proper qualifications. This is important because not all buyers are buyers. There is a serious buyer – someone who wants or needs to buy. There is a qualified buyer, someone who can buy. One needs to determine if the buyer is both, not just one or the other. I will review with you the qualifications of the buyer when the purchase offer is submitted to you. I will make certain we have pre-mortgage approval from a well-known, reputable lender. I will also advise you with respect to the earnest money to determine if the buyer is serious. What this means to you is that you will never needlessly take your home off the market because of the buyer not being serious or qualified and lose the Golden Time. The long term benefit is that you will get to sell your place in time and have peace of mind.
My fifth job responsibility is to help buyers take action. More action means more offers. This is important because most buyers are apprehensive and have doubts. They are just scared to make that BIG decision. I will listen to the potential buyers’ concerns and help them put those concerns into proper perspective by giving them additional information and knowledge and then re-asking for them to take action. A lot of times, I’ll need to educate the buyer’s agent so the agent can educate the buyer – that’s my job.

I’ll have a list of everyone who has called and who is interested and those who have come through the open house and will call them back before a final decision is made on the offers that come through to prod any on the fence to write an offer. More action = more offers. It is better to have multiple offers to review than none or only one. The real value is a quicker sale and getting where you want to go on time.

My sixth job responsibility is to be a negotiator – to negotiate for my client as a third party. This is important because only one out of every 21 offers are accepted as is. That means the other 95% have to be negotiated without losing the buyer or weakening your position. In this business, one does not get what one deserves – one gets what one negotiates. That’s my job – to bring the two parties together. What this means to you is you will have a third party negotiating to never alienate the buyer and never weaken your position. The long term advantage is more money and a quicker sale.
My seventh job responsibility is to help my clients make their home more affordable through financing. This is important because fewer than 7% of all the houses sold in our area are sold for cash. That means out of every 100 houses sold, 93 buyers need to get some financial help. Financing is the key to affordability. This is probably less relevant in this market, as most buyers are pre-approved. But this goes back to #4 – making sure they are qualified by someone who is not a fly by night internet lender that can screw up the deal. If they do need this help, I can offer help in fast pre-approval and financing – I can do this in under a day. What this means to you is the more help I can offer on the financial side, the more buyers there are who can afford your home. More buyers means more showings and activity. The real value is a quicker sale and more money.
My eighth job responsibility is to make certain the transaction is worry-free and to act as an expert facilitator. There are generally two types of problems – 80% are the agent’s fault by not doing what should have been done, through neglect or ignorance. The other 20% are not the agent's fault, but are personality conflicts, ego and emotions getting out of hand. I will eliminate the first type because I have a system and checklist to make sure everything is done. I will nip the second type of problems in the bud so that they don’t get out of hand and turn into big problems. I also have a call back policy so I am always available and will respond in a timely fashion. This means that you will have the peace of mind and get to the closing on time. You can rest easy knowing a professional (me!) is handling everything for you.
My ninth job responsibility is to bring a quality company with me – so that you know that Long and Foster will be backing this deal. Long and Foster takes a lot of pride in training and supporting its agents so they are some of the best out there. If any problems arise, they will stand behind me as their agent and you as their clients. Before I associated with this company, I interviewed a number of agents about their companies, and I made my decision based on finding a quality company that had values, ethics, philosophy, innovation, a leader in the market and one stop shopping. What this means is that you will have all the information to pick the best company – a quality, full service company. In the long term, we can get you more money and a quicker sale with no problems.
My tenth job responsibility is to be your trusted advisor. My whole purpose is to help you make good decisions (so that you’ll get the most offers for the most money and settle on time!).

Now, you just have to ask: Through all of this that I’ve talked about above, do you think I can get you more money than you could? Can I do it in a way that is a lot less hassle then if you did it on your own?