Andrea was not happy with the buyer's agent she had been working with because she felt they were not really listening to her.  Kathleen Chiras supports her choice to switch to a new agent and says how to do that.  She is available for free consultation on weekdays and weekends.  See podcasts at http://buyeragentsearch.com

Administrator's Album

Get a New Agent

According to the hosts of the  KHOW radio station real estate program that airs Saturday mornings in Denver Colorado, the best Match-making company anywhere in the United States is Skyfor Inc. Skyfor helps both buyers and sellers of real estate get matched with top agents in all 50 US states, Canada and Costa Rica.  This free service to consumers is  owned by Kathleen Chiras. who has been doing this match-making service for over 20 years.

The podcast is Kathleen’s story of a Buyer’s Agent in Colorado:
A buyer broker from Boulder, northwest of Denver, Colorado, presented 7 offers offer last week on behalf of his buyer clients. He was able to get three under contract. This is a remarkable feat, given the extreme seller's market in Colorado.  It is not uncommon to have an offer go to the seller along with 10 or 15 other offers.

One buyer was able to purchase  a building lot. 
For the second one, the broker mailed neighborhoods specified by his buyer,  and asked them  if  they were interested in selling.  In a strong seller's market top-notch buyer agents do this sort of activity for their buyer clients.  In the third one, the terms and conditions of the offer were such that the buyer's offer was seen as the best, and so they were able to win the contract. 

To get a top buyers agent anywhere in the United States, you may call Kathleen at 303-758-4040 or fill out the form at http://consumersrealestate.com You may also visit http://buyeragentsearch.com/ to learn more about this extraordinary matching service.

Consumer should take note that it is a  free service, with no hidden costs.. individuals may call any time to receive a free consultation

Buyers Agents Help With Multiple Offer Situation

Skyfor's Tip: Look at what price the listing agent wants to build into the property for their services and evaluate it carefully. Break it down to see what services they are providing to justify the commission.
Skyfor’s role is finding good agents across the country without any hidden cost or other charges. They answer inquiries from people looking in the different areas. They seek top quality agents and review their qualifications.
Consumers may call Skyfor’s headquarters to explain what they need. The staff will also check agents you may have already come across to see if they are on Skyfor's list, and determine if it's someone that you may wish to consider along with additional suggestions from Skyfor.
Real time example of why to check out your agent:
One consumer called Skyfor to check on an agent, the the staff were able to determine that this person who proclaimed to be a residential buye'rs agent was actually a commercial specialist and did not have any buyer agency designations.

If consumers with to get a list of agent recommendations, they should call Kathleen at 303-758-4040 or you may visit  the radio show website or: http://buyeragentsearch.com/ to learn more about Buyer's Agents. There is also a form at http://consumersrealestate.com for inquiries about listing agent recommendations.

How Real Estate Agents Get Paid

Jean, 79, is considering using a reversed mortgage. She needs to move out of her big house and is thinking of moving into a smaller condo. An alternative however, is to stay put and have a reversed mortgage. Kathleen helped analyze this options for Jean. She advised that it may not be wise to sell her home until the numbers worked out so she could comfortably get in to buying a new one.
The other buyer, Greg, called up Kathleen to tell her about his dream house. Kathleen gave him a buyer-agent to help him explore that dream. Kathleen asked him for his targeted price-range, and then asked the more important question: Would he be comfortable with the monthly payment for a five-bedroom and three-bathroom house at this price point? Greg got in contact with a buyers agent, WIlliam, and they're discussing what's available in Illinois area. Kathleen was able to provide viewpoints and and excellent options to Greg. Consumers specific wants and needs should never be taken for granted. She presents a full range of options for what’s really best for them. 
Kathleen gives extensive service, an extra effort to help consumers and give them options. Her service can match buyers and sellers with a short list of best buyers agent and sellers agent for the area where the consumer is buying or selling. The service puts a premium on listening carefully to consumer's wants and needs. 
For further information, to help you find the best agents, call Kathleen for a free, no-obligation consultation at 303-758-4040 or fill out the inquiry form at the BuyerAgentSearch.com website.

Reverse Mortgage Right or Wrong Choice

What is the most important part of the initial agent selection process?

Kathleen thinks the interview process is one of the most important aspect of the beginning of a buy or sell situation. Her service provides a 10 multi-part interview questions that people can have.  They also provide good answers to those questions it so that consumers can know what would be the best answer.

Mistakes that buyers and sellers make along their path as a buyer and seller:

One of the things that consumers often do is price their home just a little high from the market because of two factors:
 
1. Consumers have in o mind the target idea of what they want to get out of that house. They want that to be able to put a certain amount of money in to the next house, or recover the equity that has been on the house that may already have been spent with a refinance.  If consumers really do want to sell their house, they have to look objectively at it. 

If the home is listed at a price above what the market says it is worth, consumers oftentimes need to lower their price.  This makes it and looks like the seller is desperate to sell. People who are looking at that house will likely offer a lower price when they see that the seller is motivated to sell by lowering the price.

A hard question that must be asked is, “What is the market price of that house, how soon I do I wanna sell it? 

2. Sellers tend to look at a  particular feature of the house and think, “That feature adds a lot value to my house.” Kathleen is aware of a person called in months ago who had personally built the moss stone fireplace, and commented that he thought it would add $20,000.  The listing broker looked at the same fireplace through the eyes of a modern buyer, and assessed that it might even negatively affect the price.  The reason is because in his experience the young potential buyers of that home were generally looking for the ease and convenience of a gas log fireplace and they did not see the same aesthetic value that the sellers saw.

Initial Agent Selection Process

Tips for Consumer: Two Characteristics Consumers Get When They Have A Poor Agent

1. Laziness

Kathleen asks the host: “What percentage of listing agents do you see out there who are really top notch, who are not lazy?”

Radio host Barry Miller, a seasoned professional agent, responds to how he would handle a referral for one of his clients:

”I screen out ninety percent of the people I look at.” 

The question is, how well do most agents really know and explain to consumers the local market conditions?

A really good listing agent will know even from neighborhood to neighborhood if it's a buyer’s or seller’s market and how strong that market is.  A good listing agent will know from even block to block the kind of market it is.  If they do not know this level of detail, the agent will not be a good negotiator.


2. A Poor Agent is one without at least 2 years of experience.

New people will have it rough if they don't have top mentors because they don't even know what they don’t know.  Big companies may assign an inexperienced agent to the unsuspecting person who walks through the front door.

An agent who is licensed to be responsible for a seller's property should have a high level of competence, not a high level of promotional talent. 

For more tips for our consumers to find top seller agents anywhere in the great United States of America, buyers and sellers can call or fill out the online form. There is no cost for our services at all.  These services are a hundred percent free.

2 Attributes Of Poor Agents

Should I Use a Discount Brokerage? 

About a year ago, a listener called Skyfor, Inc and asked for services on a good recommendation for both buyer and seller agents. He ultimately decided to use his own buyer’s agent selection from a discount brokerage company---a company that would offer lower fees on selling the prospect's home if they could help the consumer on the buying side. 

The listener got an accepted offer within two days. She was happy that the closing went smoothly, and she ended up paying about $3000 or so. However, she was unsure if she had made the right decision, or perhaps she could have gotten more money from the sale of her house if she had a professional seller representative advocating for her highest price.

Host: “You know Kathleen this is something that we have talked about before I strongly believe in this marketplace where multiple bids come in, a real estate agent can more than earn their pay.”

A professional agent will try hard to get the highest price and perfect deal for their sellers in the negotiation process.

KC says:  “Would you would rather save a percent or two off a commission, or possibly gain, for example, 10- 20% more on the sales price of your home because the seller's agent was able to handle multiple offers and get a higher price?"  She notes that a 10% greater sales price could provide the seller with five times the income than the savings of 2% on the commission.

She notes that savvy sellers should have a thorough knowledge and awareness of the Real Estate Market and there are people---professional people that have that knowledge. 

On a different subject KC notes that in our computer-dominated world, people are talking about making a seller's app to be able to do all the things needed to do to sell a home, (except perhaps the final negotiation). Nowadays, computer algorithms can handle a lot of things.

KC says: “However, I'd still want the advice and the advocacy of a professional trying to help me. Real estate is a very large purchase and you ought to have professional advice."

Host: (A quick sale with a discounted brokerage firm) " may work in this crazy marketplace if your house is below the four hundred thousand dollar range, which is a median price for houses in Colorado.  But for more expensive homes or in a more normal market place, the advantage of having a good real estate agent on your side who knows how to market your home may save you a lot of time and money.”

The host, who is a co-owner of  Miller Stanley Real Estate, notes that consumers should factor in how much time it might take to sell the property,  how difficult it would be to sell that particular home, and the specific tasks that are expected out of selling agent in their commission. 

If the consumer doesn't  have time to learn all those kind of things, the host suggests consumers call KC for assistance finding professional people.  A professional will take the time to evaluate all aspects of a property, provide comparative market analyses, and help come up with a final price based on the temperature of the market. They can also make predictions of market trends over the next 30, 60 or 90 days.

Should I Use A Discount Broker?

What Services Of Real Estate Agents Are Free

Home Buyers Should Be Aware of Traps when they See Homes without an Agent

KC points out that agent commissions are built into the price of homes for sale, and are paid to the buyer and seller agent regardless of whether the consumer picks a preferred agent or not.  In fact, if a person goes to an open house without an agent, signs in and the door, and wants to buy that home, they could be assigned that agent by the realty company and not have a choice in selection of an agent.  Agents who are invisible to you may be getting paid under certain circumstances.

The host responds with the concept of how we are a cynical society, EXCEPT when it comes this big ticket item, buying a house. The consumer leaves their cynicism behind, thinking "they are going to take care of me.  However, it is NOT that way.  It is naive to think you can go without an agent".  When visiting an open house the consumer may think "That agent seemed nice". However, there is a lot more going on behind the scenes.  Consumers often do not realize that some agents already have a legal fiduciary duty with the seller. 

 The host notes that what is taught on the show is that there're two sides to the transaction. Of the 121/2 million people who buy & sell in the US, why are we not more on guard and aware that  our agent is negotiating against the other side?  There is nothing more controversial and adversarial than the home buying or home selling process. "The good news here is that Realtors  know how to bring people together."

KC explains that she has made many of the mistakes that many homeowners do.  She tells the story of how on her first purchase she walked right into the development office to buy a condo in golden Colorado and thought she had an agent on her side. A few weeks before the closing she found out that she did not even qualify for the loan and at that point had no place to move to as she had given up her lease and roommate.  A good buyer's agent on the other hand would have made sure she was properly qualified before even getting involved in the home buying process.

 The host notes that the show gives consumers the good information so they cannot be taken advantage of by the real estate Industry.   There are 10 steps to be aware of when buying or selling a home, and that knowledge will protect you.  Sometimes the traps are from Realtors sometimes from lenders and sometimes from home inspectors. Senior citizens in Florida can be taken advantage of by unscrupulous inspectors.   Fortunately, this doesn't happen as much in Colorado.   He stresses that it is important to have that knowledge sub your agent is working for you and not against you.

KC says that the seminar offered by the hosts of the radio show that explains these 10 steps is a riveting presentation that shouldn't be missed.

The host ask that KC explain her serive: "I have been helping consumers find top buyer and seller agents for the past 20 years, and we have kept ratings and reviews on agents.  It is fine if consumers call us at the very beginning of their home search. There is no cost or obligation, and people are welcome to fill out or inquiry form or give us a call."  KC tries to find agents who fit perfectly with the consumers wants

Home Buyers Should Be Aware Of Traps

Consumer’s Real estate radio show that aired 8:00-9:00 am on Saturday, Sept. 1 on KHOW -Denver and Colorado Springs Colorado

090118 8AM Whole Radio Show

Kathleen plays bass & flute in a rock band.  She is the owner of a company called, "Skyfor".  Skyfor's main website is BuyerAgentSearch, that instantly locates top buyer and seller real estate agents throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America.

SkyFor