To Whom It May Concern:
Please allow me to share my outstanding experiences with Hugh and Marie. My fiancée and I first became interested in One Percent Broker because we knew we were going to be very proactive in our home search. We had no problem taking charge of finding our ideal home. In fact, we preferred having the ability to look at the MLS and pick out our own properties.
Initially, we were hesitant because this was our first home purchase. We did not understand all the nuances of the real estate business and feared that going with a discount broker may lead to future problems. But Hugh was very understanding and answered all of our questions. He was actually more responsive than some of the traditional brokers we considered. In the end, what made the difference was the realization that when it came down to writing the offer and going through escrow, we theoretically should have the same guidance as if we had gone through a traditional broker.
The truth is that in the offering and escrow portions of our home buying experience, Hugh and Marie were probably better than most traditional brokers. As I mentioned, this is our first home purchase, so I have little by way of comparison. But I had seen my parents sell and purchase properties through traditional brokers and never felt they got the level of dedication and commitment that we got from Hugh and Marie. Hugh and Marie genuinely seemed to have our best interests in mind, whereas I felt some other brokers were driven by making a deal go through.
During the offering process, Hugh helped to prevent us from offering too much for properties and helping us see the long term market value of some properties rather than getting too caught up in the excitement of a new place. I could easily see a traditional broker trying to get the buyers to raise their offering price to increase the likelihood of the offer being accepted. On the property we eventually purchased, Hugh helped to feel out the seller and assisted us in getting the best possible purchase price. Additionally, by being intimately involved in finding properties to view, we were also able to get a better grasp of the market value for the properties we liked.
Though we had minimal issues arise during our escrow process, I would definitely want Marie in our corner should escrow ever get contentious. Similar to Hugh, Marie seemed genuinely interested in protecting our rights, rather than protecting the deal. At every step of the way, Marie kept us informed of what was going on, and even when the seller’s agent was slow in responding to questions and requests, Marie constantly updated us on the latest news and conversations. Given our hectic schedules, it was also much easier to do much of the paperwork after hours, and Marie truly made it easy to take care of everything we needed to do.
At every point during the process we felt like we were well taken care of and well informed. If you are not opposed to doing some of your own legwork in finding your own property, I enthusiastically recommend you utilize the services of Hugh and Marie. They do a wonderful job and they will help save you some money!
KL
