Palos Verdes Real Estate

Real Estate and Icebergs

As with icebergs, there is an awful lot that goes on (or should go on) below the surface in a real estate transaction that makes possible what you see.  Here’s an example:

When your house sells, the buyer will hire an inspector (or two) to look at the property.  A good listing agent should a) be present at the inspection to see what the inspector finds, b) have a working knowledge of systems in a typical home (roof, plumbing, electrical, foundation, etc) and c) have time-tested people who can come over, look at the items, and give a cost estimate and completion date.  If an agent has never crawled under a house to look at grade beams, water stains, or di-electric unions, I would submit that they are not fully involved in their transactions.  My experience is that most agents don’t get involved in this because a) it can be messy and they might break a nail, b) they often don’t understand what they’re looking at, c) it takes time and organization to keep track of each tradesman (and if they don’t do enough business they may not have any tradesmen), and d) if there are any complaints, the agent is in the middle and doesn’t want to be.  I’m sorry, but the agent should be in the middle.  The agent is being handsomely compensated and should be your primary point of contact for the transaction.

Among the things you have a right to expect are pre-screened people to perform the tasks common to property sales, repairs being among the more common.  You should not have to spend your time going thru the Yellow Pages and probably paying more than you had to for a possibly sub-standard job.  I have collected, over my roughly 25 years in this business, an excellent group of tradesmen who, between them, can repair just about anything at a reasonable price.  I meet the inspector and tradesmen, collect all the information and quotes, then sit down with you to formulate an informed response to the buyer.

This is just one aspect of a sale where a good agent can make all the difference.  Sure, the fancy ads, brochures, and slick presentations are nice and all the top agents do that, but this is the kind of stuff that can really make a difference.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 8:17 am and is filed under Everything I've Written, Real Estate General Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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