Kathleen Rhode

"We just wanted to thank you for everything in finally getting our house sold. We know that it was all your extra efforts, well-targeted advertising and of course your advanced communication skills which enabled us to sell our home after it was on the market for over two years (with another agency). We have both commented to each other numerous times, 'If only we had gone to Kathleen sooner.' . As you know,we were listing with a 'fee for service' discount broker. When we compare what we got (for 2 years!) from them as compared to what you did for us -- well, there IS no comparison: • First of all, the fact that many realtors do not show properties of self-listed or fee-for-service homes is something we didn't know,and a definite problem for higher priced homes like ours. • Second, even if the discount realtor lists the property in the MLS, chances are that there is suspicion by prospects as to why the person is using a discount realtor (something wrong with the house?), and maybe some question as to what kind of realtor they'd be dealing with. • The knowledge of the 3 (yes 3) realtors we had with the discount realtor (this itself was a problem but I'll spare you the details) didn't shine a candle to yours Kathleen, really!. After working with you we learned that we had been given poor guidance in the beginning when we were setting price, and also they had no real marketing strategy tailored to our property.Now don't get me wrong, the people we dealt with were all above board, honest and treated us well. But there can be no outcome without a strategy, it seems to me. • What we also learned -- the hard way -- was that for our kind of property, the discount model was not the way to go, at all. We wasted a lot of time --and money -- by trying to save on paying commissions (penny wise, pound foolish were we). In hindsight that was our biggest mistake, but mostly that came from our inexperience (we hadn't ever sold a house before); Had we had a seasoned conventional realtor (like you) from the beginning, who would have coached us better, we're sure we would have sold our house long before we did. We did not get this until we signed on with you. Once we switched to you we had showings almost immediately. Given the wretched state of the market, especially for homes in our price range (above $400k), we know that we sold because of your expertise in knowing where to advertise and how to present our home, both in the visuals and also in how the description was written to capture what is a truly unique property. We can't thank you -- and of course Barry, who assigned you to us -- for seeing us through it all, to include a bit of hand holding when the stress was getting to us. We are forever in your debt and if you ever need a personal reference, please feel free to use us. WIth warmest thanks and best regards, Dana & Yoko Lewis 4 Medill Ln. Newark DE 19711"
Dana & Yoko Lewis Wed Apr 23, 2008