How to Make Me Blush

I loved working with these fantastic (and adorable!) first time home buyers. They knew what they wanted, but were flexible when it came to what the market had to offer. After getting their feet wet with a couple unsuccessful offers, they knew it was time to step up to the plate and make their dream of home ownership come true. Working together I was able to get their offer accepted, beating out 13 other contenders. Home sweet home is walking distance to a favorite neighborhood cafe, close to commute routes, and in the sweetest little neighborhood. Despite a challenging market, I'm happy their buying experience was positive, and I'm left glowing after receiving such a great review.

I can't recommend Shannon highly enough! As first time home buyers in the bay area, my husband and I were clueless and nervous about the home buying process, but Shannon guided us every step of the way. Beyond being a great realtor she was a great teacher, advocate, and partner. She is clearly an  expert in her field, which was such a comfort to us as home buying novices. Many times she answered questions we didn't even know to ask. It was also clear to us that Shannon had our best interests at heart at all times. She listened intently to what was important to us, always provided us all of the information we needed to make informed decisions, offered her professional opinion, but never pushed us in any way. Shannon made the process as easy and stress-free as it possibly could be. We are so happy in our new home and even now that the sale is complete Shannon has continued to be a resource when questions have come up in our first few weeks of homeownership. She has been everything we were looking for in a realtor and more! We feel very lucky to have found her and we will certainly be calling her again for any future real estate needs. If you are looking for a great real estate agent, you can't do better than Shannon!

Zillow | Realtor.com | Yelp

Sounding Off in the SF Chronicle

This past week I was asked to answer the question, "How can you determine fact from fiction in online Realtor reviews?" for the San Francisco Chronicle. While they've yet to update the Sound Off section in the sfgate.com, the text below is what I submitted as my answer. Due to space restrictions I had to leave out a couple additional points, so you'll have to ask me what they are if you are curious.

When reviewing Realtor profiles & reviews online you should look deeper than the information being presented to the way it's being presented. As this SFGate blog post from April 20th discusses, buzz words can make a difference in home sales prices; likewise buzz words can make a difference in the impression you have when reading about an agent. What do those commonly found descriptors like “premiere” and “top producer” actually mean?

Most agents, especially those who have been in the industry for many years, will represent themselves accurately and will have a good sampling of reviews from which a discerning reader can pull valuable information. Consistently mentioned personality and professional traits can offer reliable information about an agent. Also look for a consistent voice in an agent’s website or blog; does that voice match what the reviews say? When reading online reviews, remember that if a person has a negative experience they tend to share it, so if an agent has all positive reviews on reputable sites, it's safe to say they're doing a good job for their clients.

Finally, use all the resources at your fingertips. There are many sites you can look to for reviews and sales information; Yelp, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, and LinkedIn all offer platforms for client-written reviews. With over than 15 years in the business, I can say that the cream does rise to the top, and agents who act unprofessionally or unethically don’t stick around long regardless of what buzz words they use.