Who is the Best Realtor in Sequim?

R. Hart, thanks for your comment, and great questions. Your comment said, “All your efforts to promote sales and represent sellers are great for sellers, but makes me nervous as a buyer . . .” Actually, I’ve been writing a majority of my articles for buyers for so long, I was reminded recently of the need to pay attention to the needs of sellers, too. I have many articles about how to negotiate the best price when buying, about how save money and avoid nightmares. In fact, I have an entire audio series that was broadcast on the local radio and is on my podcast entitled, “Traps for the Unwary,” which is almost entirely a series to help buyers from outside our area. I have articles on buying foreclosures, articles on whether you should hire a Realtor, articles about real estate vs. stock for investors, and so on. My heart’s desire is to provide objective, solid, and well thought out counsel for buyers and sellers. Full disclosure and the truth is always the best policy in my mind. Let a buyer and a seller openly negotiate the price and terms, and the market will determine the price. I don’t think I could keep prices artificially high if I wanted to, and my head doesn’t go there. I believe in bringing a buyer and a seller together on the negotiating table, and if a transaction can be put together, I believe I can facilitate. You asked how a buyer gets a good agent in a place like this. I write extensively about that. I believe a good agent is competent, trustworthy, and experienced. No where in that definition is there room for a Realtor who would not do the highest professional job for a buyer. Of course, I think we both know that the vast majority of agents are not all of those things. I have spent my entire life working diligently to have those attributes. By the way, if sellers are desperate, they already know it. They don’t need me to tell them that after 275 days on market that they need a buyer. Which reminds me, this is a great time to be a buyer here. You are in a very good position to negotiate hard to get your best bargain. In the process of representing buyers, I pull up comps and show my buyers exactly what the market says the house is worth. Plus, we look at a lot of other similar properties, so my buyer clients know exactly what they want to do. I like my clients to make fully informed decisions, and I’ll work very hard to give my clients every bit of information they could possibly need and want to come to a decision they feel is wise. I recently represented buyer clients from Arizona, and helped them negotiate an incredible home with a beautiful water view on 20 acres down from the listed price of $799,000 to $759,000. The original listing price was $849,000, and a day after we had mutual acceptance at $759,000 (after several counters), another buyer wrote a higher offer through another agent, but my transaction was air tight for my clients. The moved in and are absolutely delighted with their home and the entire process. I also represented a young couple who bought their first home last month, and I saved them $33,000 on the purchase, and was able to get them into the home with zero down and the seller paid all the closing costs. I enjoy representing buyers, and sellers can take care of themselves in the negotiating process. Thanks for your insightful question and comments. I think others will be thinking along similar lines and also appreciate the dialogue here.