Seattle's Urban Villages

Open Houses; a great way to "interview" agents when you are thinking about selling your home

A great way to find a good Seattle real estate agent when you are thinking about selling your Seattle home is by attending open houses in your neighborhood. 

You get to see an agent "in action" at an open house!  While you are there you can gauge their professionalism by the way they greet you, engage you in conversation and talk about the house they are hosting the open house at.  Ask questions about the neighborhood, the Seattle real estate market both in general and specifically homes in the neighborhood and comparable homes.  While talking to the agent, do you find them knowledgeable, and a good "fit" to work with you?

Check out the agents' marketing materials (flyer's etc.) are they informative and interesting to look at?   Ask the agent what they did to help their client get the house "market ready" and their philosophy for marketing and selling homes.  Later when you get home, look the house up online to see the quality of the online photos, and the marketing remarks for that house, do you find them to present the home well?

A good agent will be happy to answer all your questions, but be careful not to monopolize their time after-all, they are working to sell their clients home!  The agent is there to show their clients' house to potential buyers so they will need to greet and talk with other visitors at the open house too.

Sometimes the agent hosting the open house is not the listing agent, so that is something to find out while talking to the agent.  The hosting agent is still a good potential agent for you even if they are not the listing agent.  Sometimes a listing agent is not available to host that week's open house for one of several reasons, and another agent is hosting it.  Even if the agent you meet and talk to is not the listing agent, that hosting agent may be a good fit for you if they impress you with their professionalism, knowledge and marketing savvy.

Be sure to get the agents' business card and a flyer too so that you can follow up and call them later to talk about what they can do for you to market and sell your home.  A little time and effort spent doing this will help you to find the best Seattle agent for you when the time comes to sell your home.

Mr Johnson's Antiques in Montlake

Strolling along on Seattle's 24th Avenue East in the little retail core of Montlake, you come to Mr Johnson's Antiques.

 

When you step inside you are surrounded by treasures, and your eyes have to keep moving about to take them in.  Seated behind a desk near the entrance you see Mr Johnson, aka Matthew Johnson, who greets you and laughingly puts you at your ease.

Matthew, who I met a year before at Georgetown's Art & Garden Walk where he now makes his home (also filled with many wonderful objects) is very outgoing and loves to show off the treasures that his shop holds.  The Montlake neighbors often drop by and there is a candy bowl just for the kids, one mom and young daughter stopped by while I was there recently and they were delighted by Matthews' charm.  One of the neighbors who came by my open house in Montlake recently told me that he considers Matthew to be the "Mayor of Montlake".  Matthew is a long time resident of the area, he grew up in North Capitol and played baseball at the Montlake Playfields as a child, there is even a photo of him in the shop with his bat the ready for a pitch.   

When you are in the Montlake neighborhood, and if you love to poke around to find treasures, then Mr Johnson's Antiques is a great place to stop by.

An Open House history lesson or I love meeting the former owners!

Two weeks ago at an Open House for my new listing in Montlake...

there were many neighbors (and of course buyers looking for a new home) stopping by to see the house now that it is for sale,  and it's improvements.  It was very enjoyable meeting everyone and giving tours of the home because there are many unusual features like a walled over stained glass window just waiting for new owners to reveal it to the world again and...this house even has a secret room!  There was a surprise for me when the former owner, before my client bought the house about 10 years ago, stopped by. 

Mrs. G. and her family lived there for over 30 years and she wanted to see the home again where she had lived with her husband and their children grew up.  It was wonderful to listen to Mrs G. tell me about the way the house used to be when it was her home and the changes she and her husband made to the homes as its' second owners.  Things like adding the extra bathrooms (the house has 5, very unusual in Montlake!)and I finally got to find out why there was an odd cut out in the balcony off the kitchen (many people had asked me about that) Mr. G. cut out that portion so that their dog could lie on the floor and look out at the street, who knew!

It's not everyday that a listing agent gets to find out the history of a beautiful and unique Montlake Tudor Home from such long term former owners!

Seattle Open House Surprise....

A few weeks ago I got a call from some Buyer Clients that they were back in Seattle and wanted to see the new listing I had emailed them Friday night.  Since it was Sunday, and the house just came on the Seattle Real Estate market late Friday, there was an Open House scheduled that afternoon.  The "Agent Only" remarks had posted that the Sellers were requesting no showings until the Open House so I arranged to meet my Buyer's at the house during the Open House.

The house was showing well and had lots of traffic; neighbors and potential buyers.  While I was examining the garage with my clients I opened up a storage closet door and found...a rifle!  There it was leaning against the wall....   

After quietly telling my Clients, I immediately went to inform the Listing Agent what I had found so that he could either secure the closet or the rifle and get in touch with his Sellers.   

This was an item that should have been locked up before the Open House for the safety of the people looking at the house, and to prevent the theft of the Seller's personal property.  Seller's Agents coach their Clients when listing their home, to lock up cash, prescription drugs, valuable jewelry, important documents/papers and of course weapons.   

When a home is listed for sale, all this type of personal property must be made secure to prevent it's possible theft.  While Buyer's Agents are escorting their clients throughout the residence, they may not be able to keep an eye on everyone at all times, and the Clients may be new to the Agent.

So Tip For Sellers:  When selling your home on the Seattle Real Estate market, lock up your valuable personal property!