Jul 6, 2020
Rena Smith
★
★
★
★
★
It is always- oh no, wait- it is NEVER ideal put your home on the market during a global pandemic/city-wide shut-down.
BUT, if you are recklessly optimistic enough to try, I strongly recommend you go with Jennifer and Bert. 😉
When we signed with Jennifer & Bert, Jennifer told us she’d be there for all of the stress and the worry and the tears. I thought she must be kidding; it was early spring, and we were selling a move-in ready, reasonably-priced home in a desirable neighborhood. IN LA. Bert said “Piece of cake!”
That “Piece of cake” would haunt us.
Open houses were cancelled when LA shut down. Nobody knew how long it would last. Once the strict isolation relaxed, Jennifer introduced the idea of a Social Distancing Open House- one appointment every 30 minutes, booties and gloves provided, Bert leading personal tours through the house, please don’t touch anything. Even those were a tough sell. Virtual tours were offered.
Then it got weirder, as financial institutions clamped down on potential borrowers, and some buyers thought they’d try to scoop up a killer deal in a challenging, uncertain market. A couple of laughable/insulting offers were made, and though I’m sure they would’ve loved to make a sale, Jennifer & Bert had no interest in encouraging us to accept an offer that was not in our best interests.
And so we waited. Leaving no stone unturned, Jennifer & Bert called around to make sure other local agents were aware that our house was available. Jennifer encouraged us to procure our own inspection, so we could fix any issues before they became impediments to a sale, and walked us through the exhaustive Seller’s Disclosures, so that we wouldn’t be in a rush should a good offer come our way. When potential buyers showed interest, she assiduously followed up with post-tour phone calls, answering questions from buyer’s agents or forwarding them to us if needed.
And then a good offer! Again, Jennifer & Bert helped us through all of the steps, from deciding what fixes to make and what concessions to offer to how to manage selling our house while buying another. They made sure every i was dotted and every t crossed, explained some of the intricacies of international financial dealings (yet another wrinkle!), and laughed with us as the absurdities seemed to snowball at times. All the things most people only have to do a couple of times in their lives, but which they know forward and backward.
All things considered, it was remarkably smooth. We are happy, our buyers are happy, and Jennifer & Bert have a head-shakingly unbelievable tale of Real Estate in a Global Pandemic. We are confident that, even in a normal market, they can easily handle whatever comes their way with patience, good humor, and thorough knowledge.
