Stories of Why We Should Thank a REALTOR

As part of HomeGain’s 4th annual Agent Appreciation 2009 campaign, we are featuring REALTORS® how have shown outstanding customer service and care of their clients.

Often the hard work of REALTORS goes unnoticed or unappreciated. These real-life stories demonstrate and validate all the reasons why we should thank real estate agents and brokers for their dedication and excellence in serving people who need help buying and selling homes.

Real Estate Agent and Broker Stories:

“We Saved our Client From Foreclosure”

“We had a HomeGain closing on Friday August 7th  that closed as a short sale and the foreclosure sale date was August 10th, following Monday.  The buyer, Cathy, had a lot of issues with his loan and had a couple of delays and the shorted lender refused to give us any more time to close.  If we didn’t close on Friday, foreclosure sale was Monday and they wouldn’t budge.  I didn’t think it was going to close and tried persistently to beg the negotiator to give us another week to no avail.

We pulled up our sleeves and worked with a great title company and lender to pull some serious strings, push the loan through underwriting and closed with wires going out before the end of business Friday.  To pull it off, the buyer had to fly back from a work trip in Texas (he works on oil rigs and travels constantly), the sellers had to cut out of work and met our title agent at Burger King! and of course when all was said and done the figures were just a bit short of the net required to the lender so the agents had to kick in a little bit of money as well to get it all closed.

It truly was teamwork at its finest and a great story of several professionals working hard so a buyer who truly loved and wanted the home could get it, and a seller could avoid foreclosure.”

-Andrew Duncan, The Duncan Duo, Keller Williams, Florida (photo of Andrew)

“Selling A Home At A Price That Won’t Appraise To Value”

“I listed a home for an out of state seller. We did our due diligence in pricing his home and priced it very competitive with the market. Within 8 hours we had an offer that went to contract. Well when it came time for the appraisal it did not appraise per the other agent and they wanted the price reduced. My seller refused. So we returned it to the market and within 48 hours had another offer.

Now we all know that the price is set by supply and demand not an appraiser. Well low and behold once again it did not appraise. This time I was working with an agent that saw things as I did on the supply and demand. She talked to her buyer’s lender who in turn understood this situation. We both pulled comps and discussed with the appraiser that he was not using comps in line with the subject as this neighborhood had 4 subdivisions with in it and he was using the least expensive side.

After 3 days of going back and forth with the appraiser he called the lender and resubmitted his revised appraisal and we closed the home. Agents need to know that we can show just cause as to why we feel the appraiser is wrong. Right now we do not carry a lot of weight with this, however we had an appraiser who worked with us. I feel that we need this to happen more often as supply and demand drives the price.

When we work as professional agents and strive for one goal (representing our clients above and beyond) we achieve what is the ultimate level of appreciation and this is what makes for good business.”

- Sharon Kunz GRI,CRS,ABR,e-Pro, Associate Broker, RE/MAX Greater Atlanta, Georgia (photo of Sharon)

“Helping Clients Mentally and Physically”

“Sometimes you have an Agent that really goes the extra mile for their customers.  I have a new Agent, Roger, who has done remarkable the first 3 months of his Real Estate career with me.  In his first three months, following our 100mph Marketing Lead System, he has closed 3 deals and has 5 on the board.  I know he also wrote an offer last night too!  Roger is the type of guy that has an infectious laugh and has been a team player from the moment he joined our Tropical Realty team.

Roger’s first closing was a ton of work.  The price was right around $50k.  As you know, the lower the price the more work.  He spent a solid two weeks showing them home after home….probably close to 50 homes.  They made several offers on homes that were in the $75k range, and I had to work with both the customers and Roger so they would understand that in this price range you need to be close or even over full price almost every time.  I would hear Roger in the conference room getting this couple laughing and keeping an upbeat attitude.  Roger’s personality and his own ability to keep working hard to help his customer even knowing the commission would be very small was awesome.  He did a great job and they finally got a contract.

The normal issues happened with this transaction.  The loan was tight, the inspection had issues, and the buyers kept going back and forth on whether they should go through with the deal. Two days before closing, the husband had an accident and hurt his back badly.  He was able to close on the house, but there was no way he was going to be able to unload the truck with all their belongings.  Roger, being the great guy that he is, spent the day they closed at their home, helping the customer clean the home and then pretty much emptied the truck by himself.  I had no idea any of this was going on as I’m sure some of my other Agents would have jumped in to help them out.

Needless to say, his customers think he is the best Realtor in the world.  He truly did everything he could for this customer with only one goal in mind; help the customer and make them happy.

Roger is a great example of what our company is all about.  Our goal is to help customers achieve their goals.  We all know that is we do our best to help our customers, the money will follow.  We can all take a lesson from Roger as he is a great Realtor!

- Mitch Ribak, Mitch Realty, The eHomes Realty Network, Melbourne, Florida

“Selling A Home Sight Unseen”

“Last month I sold an home sight unseen to a BuyerLink lead. Their situation didn’t allow them to make the trip to see the home until they arrived. I took lots of photos and videos. I have to say I was really nervous because I know this could be a bad situation if they didn’t like the home after the sale. Because we were so diligent to get good information they said that it was exactly what they had expected. I have a picture of them on my Facebook page \”Move In Moses Lake\”.”

- Debra Gravelle, RE/MAX Home Team Realty

“Home Buyer Finds Dream Home – Results in HGTV Episode”

“Several months ago I received a lead on AgentEvaluator and promptly responded.  The client had done his homework, contacted me, and requested a personal interview.  He came out to my office, I reviewed my buyer presentation details with him, and after several othe realtor interviews, he chose to work with me.  Now we are slated for our own \”My First Place\” episode on HGTV.  Aside from meeting a really nice guy who is great to work with, and being able to help him make his dream of a new home come true, I am getting fabulous TV exposure — all due to my HomeGain lead subscription!”

- Carol Cei, RE/MAX Millennium

“A Reference Letter Sent to Paul Scheufler”

To whom it may concern:

We used Paul’s service to purchase our town home a few years back.  Paul was very attentive to our needs and helped us locate and purchase a very nice home. We called Paul back when we needed to relocate.  We gave him the keys to our home and moved out.  We are pleased with Paul’s marketing efforts.  He provided photography services, advertising, showed our property and found a buyer.

Paul also took care of our home as if it were his own.  He arranged for cleaning, painting, staging, and the removal of furniture and debris that was left after our move.  One day Paul discovered a red ant infestation while checking on our property.  When Paul could not get an exterminating service to make an emergency service call, he did the job himself!

We appreciate Paul’s diligence and take charge attitude, and the fact that he is willing to go above and beyond the call of his responsibilities.  We cannot say enough good things about Paul and would recommend him to anyone who needs a caring and competent real estate agent.”

- Senon and Siran Raouf

“Renters Turned To 1st Time Home Buyers”

“I received a referral call from clients who were relocating from Florida to Middle Tennessee.  They were of the mind set that they would have to rent until they could save up some money for a down payment and accumulate some time at their jobs.  I started working with them with the full understanding that we were looking at rentals.  Low and behold,  after checking with my loan officer, it was determined that their credit scores were high enough to permit them to qualify for a great loan.  Coupled with some gift funds from his parents, we closed on a beautiful 3bedroom 2.5 bath home and they received their $8,000 tax credit after filing an amended tax return.”