ZillowVERIFIEDA family member recommended Doug and Joan from his own years of experience in real estate, and we are sure we made the right choice. Doug and Joan helped us sell our house. When we first met, Doug made some recommendations on work we could do to improve the sellable value of our home. "Neutralize," he said, so we replaced carpet and painted a light off-white color throughout the house. "Wash the windows and the exterior," he said, so we spent an hour with the garden hose and some spray cleaner. "Get a short-term apartment, and vacate if possible," he said, so we moved out. I'm a DIY kind of person, so I did the painting myself, but I left carpet to the professionals. All tolled, we spent $1800 polishing the house for selling. But this investment saved us from haggling with a buyer to replace carpet, or talk down the price for paint. They found an amazing photographer for us, and we listed our house. Within 48 hours, we had 2 offers for just above market value. SOLD! In the meantime, they helped us buy our next home. For several weeks, Joan put together a dashboard of home listings we could see, so they would know what features we wanted, and what details we didn't. In a click, we could Like or thumbs-down any listing, and from that, Doug and Joan knew what kind of house we were looking for. On a few weekends, Doug drove us around the valley to look at homes for sale, trying to help us find a house that matched what we voted for online. Doug was full of helpful advice, about the condition of the things we saw in homes for sale, what work could be done to maintain certain features, what the long-term benefits of some particular feature could be. He joked with us as we went along, and we had a lot of fun shopping. They were always watching out for us. "If you were my kids..." he would tell us, and insist we ask for some service or walk away from a particular home listing. When we found houses we wanted to make offers on, Doug and Joan were ready to fill in forms with us and get the paperwork done in a hurry. They made sure we would have most of the hurdles cleared early, so our offers would be ready to take seriously. Finally, we found a house we had fallen in love with. By the time we made it back to their office, Joan had done the paperwork, and all we had to do was sign. In a word: Partners. Doug and Joan were there on our entire journey, and they helped us choose wisely at every turn. Selling or Buying a home is not a simple process, but "If you were my kids," I would insist you talk with Doug and Joan first!
