Moved by The Words of My Child

I went shopping with my daughter yesterday for a “dressy” pair of pants she needed for a play she will be attending with her school.  If you knew my daughter, you would know that dressy is not her thing.  But, off we went to find a compromise that would be acceptable to the school and that she could live with. As we were standing in line, she looked over and saw a series of books that she said her brother had wanted.  She got out of line, picked up all four books and got back in line to stand next to me.  I told her that I really didn’t want to get those right now.  She looked at me and said, “No mom, I’m getting them for him, with my birthday money.”  I smiled to myself, not wanting her to know that I was extremely touched and overly pleased (which doesn’t always go over very well with a 14 year old). In the car, she kept touching the books, running her fingers over the impression of the words on the old-fashioned style cover.  Finally she said, “Mom, it feels good to be able to give something to someone”.  I nodded and thought for the first time in a long time, that maybe I had been listening and paying attention to my own mother, after all. It seems I got something right, if only for this one moment.

Giving does feel good. That’s why Moves With A Purpose speaks to me.  This team is not just about making as much money as possible to line the inside of an agent’s change purse.  It’s about helping our clients and giving back to the greater Savannah community.  Our clients, both home buyers and sellers are most important.  Without them, we would not be able to give back.  We aim to make sure we do right by them, to create a winning relationship for everyone, so that our team can move forward in its mission.  When we create relationships with our clients that last, we are able to continue our support of local non-profits and charities that help Coastal Georgia to grow and be better.

It does feel good to give.  It feels good to know that we are helping to bring comfort, a smile, a meal, a purpose, or hope to those who need it.  In return, it brings us comfort, feeds our hearts, and allows us to not just hope, but move towards a better purpose.  A purpose which can affect the lives of so many in our local community.

To see more of the Coastal Georgia non-profits and charities that we have been able to work with, please visit our website at www.MovesWithAPurpose.com.

Top Ten Reasons to List Your Home with an Agent

Why is it worth paying an agent’s commission in this day and age of technology at your fingertips?  You can look up anything on the web and learning a new skill, like real estate, is as easy as following the directions on Pinterest, right?  Wrong.  Listing a home is so much more than just putting it on the internet and watching it sell or learning how to sell a home from the same site you learn how to make a chocolate mug cake.  Let’s be honest, there is a lot of useful information on the web, but would you want your doctor working on you in a procedure he learned how to do on YouTube?  Here are the top ten reasons to list with a professional real estate agent:

1.  MORE MONEY, MORE MONEY, MORE MONEY   Now that seems like a contradiction, doesn’t it?  Paying to have someone sell your house will earn you more money than listing it yourself?  But, its true.  According to the National Association of REALTORS, you can expect to earn 14% more on the sale of your house when listing with an agent.  But, why is that?  See Reason #2.

2. REALTORS ARE PROFESSIONALS  They earn their reputation and their business by knowing the market, knowing the neighborhood, and knowing buyers.  They are educated and experienced.  This education and experience allows them to make sure that your home is priced correctly, laws are followed, the sale of your home is done correctly, and you have less stress in your life.

3.  YOUR HOME WILL GET MORE EXPOSURE  Yes, the whole world is connected through technology.  With the simple click of the mouse, you can instantly find out the eating habits of the gray African Whooping Bird.  But, the majority of home buyers are aided by a Realtor.  Realtors share a database, called the MLS, which then shares your home’s information with popular real estate search sites like Zillow and Trulia.  The MLS is where agents search for properties to show their buyers.  Unless you are a licensed Realtor, you cannot utilize this very important tool.  And I’ll tell you from experience, agents do not typically scour the internet for homes For Sale By Owner.

4. SAFETY AND CONVENIENCE   When you list your home for sale, buyers will respond.  They will knock on your door, call you at all hours, email you at all hours, and pummel you with all the details they want to know.  Not only can this prove to be a nuisance (particularly when dealing with Looky-Loos), it can also be a safety concern for you and your family.  You don’t know who you are inviting into your home to look at your property.  When you list with an agent, the agent is the primary point of contact for buyers.  Agents will screen buyers to may sure of their intentions before touring through your home and put safety measures into place to help insure the safety of your home during showings.

5. MARKETING    Professional Real Estate agents have access to marketing forums that the average homeowner does not.  Beyond Craigslist and FSBO.com, Agents are able to market through direct mail campaigns, video tours, multiple websites and data bases, open houses, agent open houses, and many other methods that will get your home sold faster and for more money.

6. NEIGHBORHOOD KNOWLEDGE   Agents know the neighborhoods (or know all the industry connections to find out great information).  They know the comparable sales (not just what other homes were listed for, but what they actually sold for and after how many days on the market), they know how fast homes in your neighborhood are selling, and they know how to market your home.  They are able to market your property in relation to its schools, its great location, the perks of the neighborhood, and so forth.  And because they are professionally connected, they are able to get the word out to many more buyers.

 7. MARKET DATA   Real estate agents, have at their fingertips, a tremendous amount of data regarding average price per square foot, median and average sales price, days on market, list-to-sold ratios.  All of this data will help you understand the pricing, marketing, and expected income of your home and will help you make the very tough decisions regarding your next step in the listing process.

8. TOUGH NEGOTIATIONS  Great agents, negotiate extremely well.  They are able to remove themselves emotionally, unlike most homeowners, and make sure that decisions regarding negotiations are based on good business decisions and getting the homeowner the most money possible.  Real Estate agents are there to look out for your best interest.

9.  ALL THE RED TAPE  Buying and selling a home requires volumes of paperwork, with lengthy purchase agreements.  One mistake, trying to correctly complete his pile of paperwork on your own, could cost you a lot of money or possibly land you in court.  Agents are there to help you in navigating all those forms, contracts, special stipulations, addendum, exhibits, and all that other necessary paperwork.  And they are there, to be by your side at the closing table, to help you understand everything that is going on and offer you moral support.

10. CONTINUED SERVICE AFTER CLOSING  Once the closing is over, you breathe a heavy sigh of relief and hope that the stress of selling your home is behind you.  But, inevitably, questions arise.  Your real estate agent is a great contact when it comes to those questions.  They may not always know the answer, but they have the contacts at their fingertips who do know the answer.  Real estate agents are a wonderful resource after the sale of your home.