Dmarquez@interorealestate.com    831.902.5414

Gets The Job Done…..

My wife and I bought a new house in Nipomo (about 35 minutes south of San Luis Obispo) and needed to sell our current place in San Jose to pay for the new one. We turned to Dolores since one of her specialties is working with properties by Communications Hill and we’ve seen her around the area for many years. It proved to be a good choice.

Knowledge: Dolores knows her stuff. When we had questions about the local market, she had the answers, probably because she was involved with the transactions…or with her partner, Frank Herman. When we needed information on the logistics related to part of the process, Dolores had it, either on-the-spot or got back to us after talking with someone else.

Marketing: The housing market was red hot. Although Dolores outlined what she’d do to reach potential buyers in more normal times, our place didn’t get that far. We never made it to the MLS or had an Open House. She brought 4 couples known to be looking for something in Tuscany Hills. The fourth was quite interested, so Dolores told their realtor to make a “best and final offer”. They did and we accepted for more than expected.

Negotiating Skills: Dolores knew we had a hot hand and played it. Prices were jumping on a daily basis so we raised our sights and promptly found buyers. However, the real test of her skills came a bit later. We wanted to remain in our home rent free for 1 1/2 months. They agreed. Then we said another 2 weeks might be required because the new place might not be ready. They again agreed (although it wasn’t needed in the end).

Related Services: Extensive. From her many years in the business, Dolores has established contacts in several areas associated with pre and post-sale activities. Before opening our doors to potential buyers, we considered staging the house. Dolores brought in 2 teams to analyze the situation and provide ideas. One did high end makeovers for a price and the other fine-tuned what we already had for free. We chose the latter…mainly because we wouldn’t need to move almost everything into a temporary storage space. Dolores also referred us to handymen who did a variety of jobs around the house and cleaned up some of the rough edges. Later, her network of post-sales professionals took us through the final stages toward completion of the process.

Follow Up: Dolores did what she said she was going to do. Occasionally it took longer than expected, but I sometimes forgot we weren’t the only clients she was working with. Plus she’s got a family at home. Things got done…and she still returned calls promptly after the sale was completed.

Cost: Expensive, but standard. A total of 6% was paid for our transaction: 3.5% to Dolores and her team and 2.5% to the buyer’s agent.

Communications: The best way to get a response is to send a text. Voicemails were okay and e-mails were spotty. Some got answered ASAP while others took a while. Texting was tops.

Demeanor: Friendly. You can imagine her as your neighbor. Not pushy, but assertive with a smile.

Would we recommend Dolores as your representative? Yes. She’s knowledgeable, down-to-earth, gets the job done and fun to work with.
★★★★★

Richard N.