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Thinking of selling my house sometime in the next year or 2. It is the home I grew up in that I recently inherited when my Mom passed away a year ago. I live in the Greater Boston area. I am considering using a friend as my realtor. She is a full time agent, owns her own agency with multiple branches and routinely is a multi million dollar agent.
We have been friends for over 30 years, not terribly close but know each other pretty well and see each other from time to time with mutual friends, as well as stay in touch on Facebook.
My home is in a sought after location and is a 2 family home that could be an investment property, a landlord tenant situation or condo-ized. It has good bones but needs a good deal of updating - but location will make up for a lot of that. It is a very tight market in my area.
Friend's agency is in a nearby community, maybe 10-15 miles away, where she does most of her business but I know she has sold in my city as well.
Would I be better off engaging an agent who lives in my city or would she do a good job for me getting me top dollar?
Are there any other pitfalls or advantages to having a friend as my realtor? I would not want to ruin a solid long standing relationship if things were to go wrong. On the other hand, my trust in her would be pretty high both because of her experience and I would think she would be equally as interested in treating me and this transaction well to keep our friendship intact too.
As a long time friend you have the benefit of knowing her ethics and how she's managed her life so far... that's a benefit! If you trust her to do her job well and do right by you, I would certainly use her! As an agent, I understand I may not be the only realtor friend people have, but I would be hurt to not be given a chance to present myself for the job!
I think having a friend work for you on the listing side is a lot less - invasive - than working with a friend on the buyer side.
I would understand a friend being hesitant to use a friend on the buyer side, where so much that is personal: credit, debt, income, finances, can end up being shared. Sometimes it's more than we might ordinarily share with casual friends. I do try to keep barriers up about what I really need to know, and I recommend very good lenders just so I don't have to be intimately involved in my client's financial business. I'm happy to report I have served several friends without ever really knowing exactly what their income and full financial picture was. Some clients want and need me to know all that.... most don't.
We hired a friend--lived 4 blocks away, full-time agent, 20 years of friendship, agent for for large (Sothebys) firm.
For us, a good decision and we are still friends. In spite of 7 months, 63 showings, 26 open houses, and accepting 85% of original list price. 2010-2011 was not a good time to sell in Denver.
YMMV.
Diana you make some very good points. She is as fine a woman as they come. Morally and ethically above reproach, kind and compassionate and very good at her profession. Also your point about using her as my listing agent being less invasive is a good one. I likely would not use her as a buyer's agent anyway as my plan is to move away from this area, though staying in Massachusetts, but further from where I am now, so definitely not her market at all.
I have some more time to ponder it until I am ready to act.
If I wasn't knowledgeable and work more than 10-15 miles from my home, I would have hardly any business. My area is spread out so much, you can't stay in a bubble of 5 miles. My grocery store is 5 miles away! Just because she's 10-15 miles away doesn't mean she doesn't work your area often. If she's been in the business long enough and has a successful brokerage, why wouldn't you use her?
... She is a full time agent, owns her own agency with multiple branches and routinely is a multi million dollar agent.
We have been friends for over 30 years, not terribly close but know each other pretty well and see each other from time to time with mutual friends, as well as stay in touch on Facebook.
..
Friend's agency is in a nearby community, maybe 10-15 miles away, where she does most of her business but I know she has sold in my city as well.
Would I be better off engaging an agent who lives in my city or would she do a good job for me getting me top dollar?
...my trust in her would be pretty high both because of her experience and I would think she would be equally as interested in treating me and this transaction well to keep our friendship intact too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dadschum
... She is as fine a woman as they come. Morally and ethically above reproach, kind and compassionate and very good at her profession. ... I have some more time to ponder it until I am ready to act.
Without question, you have described the ideal agent, IMO.
Ask her if she can serve you well. If she says, "Yes," let her. I would hire this person in a heartbeat.
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