05/30/2012 - darkhound

I am from out-of-state and just bought a 4 bedroom property with Heather.

–Personalized Feedback– Heather did things right from the very beginning. I have contacted / had communications with around 20 agents over the last 8 months to buy properties (NYC, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale) and Heather is the best agent that I have worked with. Unlike most agents, Heather was immediately responsive. She arranged a call to understand what I was looking for. She did not attempt to sign me up for automated MLS listing updates (aka mass spam), which many agents do and reflects what I consider poor service. Instead, Heather considered my goals and sent me a targeted list of properties to consider.

In addition to her list, I did my own research and came up with ~25 properties to consider. Heather went through each one and gave me feedback, which helped focus our search. Between her list and my list, we ended up with about 10 properties to check out prior to my weekend visit to Lauderdale By The Sea.

–Prepared and Organized– During the visit, Heather showed my wife and I the area and the 10 properties. She obviously knew the area well, having grown up there. She had checked out some of the properties beforehand, which helped optimize our short time there. She had a schedule set up and we never wasted time sitting around waiting for something.

–Negotiations and Sale at Our Initial Offer Price– We ended up deciding between two properties. The owners of the first property had made some renovations, were taking a hit, and were being unrealistic in the negotiations. We thus approached the second property. The owners of the second property had already come to a deal in principle with other buyers, but Heather was nevertheless able to intervene on our behalf. In fact, we ended up buying the property for a lower price than the other buyers because Heather was able to convince the sellers that our payment structure was better. The sale price ended up being our initial offer (Heather successfully resisted any upward adjustment). The two appraisals for the property were at and above the sale price.

–Local Connections and General Help– Our property is a secondary home. Heather had great connections. Her colleague, Brian, is very helpful and helped us repaint the entire home at-cost ($2000 for a 4 BR home). He organized a big team of painters, took before and after pictures, and also made measurements where we needed them in planning our furniture purchases. Brian is also helping with carpet, pressure, and general cleaning. Heather and Brian coordinated with and let in the termite inspectors, wind mitigation inspectors, appraisers, surveyors. Being out-of-state, this service was invaluable. Heather also recommended a good property management company.

–Generally– Heather is very responsive, generally responding to emails within an hour or less. She also responds to voicemails promptly. If she is out, her colleague Brian will respond. For me personally, one of the more frustrating things in working via email with people is often their reading comprehension. Fortunately, with Heather, when you ask several questions in an email, you will get a precise response to each. I’ve never had a hedgy vague or non-responsive answer from her, and you never have to repeat questions to get a proper answer.

Overall, my wife and I were very happy with Heather’s service and hope to work with her again in the future.