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From the mouth of a happy customer

By
Real Estate Agent with Prudential Gary Greene, Cypress TX

I received this letter today from a very happy customer. I am posting it here but removing his name. He said I could use it in my marketing presentation and I definitely will. When I first met him he wanted to overprice his listing, didn't want to do the repairs I suggested, etc. But in the end he listened to me and ended up a happy customer. He says it best himself....

 

Cheri R. Smith, Realtor,

ERA Whitaker Realty,

1427 Keefer,

Tomball, TX 77375

 

Commendation Letter

 

I write this letter as an expression of my full satisfaction with the work you did for me. I was introduced to you by HouseValue.com in mid-December, 2006. I was a first time home seller, and so I had spent some time renovating the inside of the house in preparation for a quick sale. Unfortunately after you briefly inspected the house, you said that it looked better on the outside than inside! You then reduced my asking price by 50%, and advised me to upgrade the house if I wanted better offers. That was the first shock I received as a first time home seller.  Then the housing stat dropped by 30% in early Jan 2007, the effect of which was that no offers were made on my house in Jan, Feb, and March. That was my second shock as a first time home seller. But you advised me daily and I started to upgrade the requisite aspects that meet buyers' attention. The first offer came in May, but it was too low compared with the upgrades already completed by then. You continued to advice and to train me as a home seller. Many times, what you suggested that I should up-grade were not easy on my pocket. The problem was that I had spent a lot of money up-grading items that were not important to home value. This, I think is a common mistake of first time home sellers. When finally most of the up-grades were completed, a good offer was made in mid-July; that was about seven months after the house was listed.

 

You remained constant in letting me know how to up-grade the house to meet buyers' interests. You showed the property to very many potential buyers who refused to make any offers at the end! That was very frustrating indeed. In the seven months my house was listed, you sent me 132 e-mails as you advised me and up-dated me with new developments. That was one e-mail every other day! That showed how consistently you worked for me to get my house sold.

 

The endless flow of e-mails you sent to me was most important in keeping me happy about the rating and performance of my house in the market. That was very satisfactory. I will recommend you strongly and without hesitation to my friends who are selling/buying homes. Thank you for a job well-done.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

<Name ommitted by Cheri'>

August 15, 07

 

Comments(17)

Rosemary Brooks
BMC Real Estate - 209-910-3706 - Stockton, CA
The Mother & Daughter Realty Team
Great job.  Nice letter to have as testimony.  You go girl! 
Aug 24, 2007 05:05 PM
Kim Murphy
Draper and Kramer - Lombard, IL
Mortgage Loans in DuPage, Kane, Cook, Lake, Will C

To have a very satisfied client that may not have started out so well, is proof in a job well done!

Aug 24, 2007 05:10 PM
Irina Netchaev
Pasadena Views Real Estate Team, Inc. - Pasadena, CA
Pasadena CA Real Estate
Congratulations on a job well done!
Aug 24, 2007 05:34 PM
Rosario Lewis
DDR Realty - Newburgh, NY
GRI, SRES - DDR Realty - Orange County, NY

Wow! Having a satisfied client willing to write a commendation is one thing. But having one who writes about every nuance of your efforts is a gem.

Aug 24, 2007 06:00 PM
Kimberly Grant
Exit Leon Crawford Realty - Huntsville, AL
Real Estate Agent - Huntsville Alabama
This is a great letter of testimony from your client.  After all is said in done, in this business, the happiness of the client is what matters!  Great job Cheri'!!
Aug 24, 2007 06:01 PM
Alexander Harb
Knights Investing - Mesquite, TX
Dallas, Texas Real Estate Investing

I am happy for you sis......

BUT I did not make money with HouseValues.....

I spent over $7500 with them and never made my money back...... I had a database of over 450 people, plus I became a Certified Professional® and was working my way to the Presidents Club® .... to no avail..... I was making up to 50 calls per night to prospects, along with the drip e-mails and CMAS... =-P

I will NEVER do business with them again.....

I am glad YOU are doing well with it!

Aug 25, 2007 02:28 AM
Cheri Smith
Prudential Gary Greene, Cypress TX - Cypress, TX
Realtor Prudential Gary Greene
Alex...I am no longer with housevalues. I had a large database from them as well. This one customer was the only listing I got from them and the only one that made it to closing. I made back what I wasted on them. lol. The leads were mostly kids playing on the computer or adults that were just rude. I would check the tax records and the people didn't even own the home they claimed they wanted to sell. I finally just got fed up with wasting my time. I am surprised this one made it to closing because it was a struggle. 90% of the houses on the market in that subdivision are foreclosures right now.
Aug 25, 2007 05:20 AM
Cheri Smith
Prudential Gary Greene, Cypress TX - Cypress, TX
Realtor Prudential Gary Greene
I should have mentioned that this letter comes from a university professor. I wouldn't expect every client to be so detailed in their letters. The other thing that made it hard is that he immigrated here from Africa in the early 90s and things are done very differently there when selling a home.
Aug 25, 2007 05:24 AM
Keith Elliott Jr
KEIRE Realty Group - Manassas, VA
Principal Broker/Owner

That's a nice letter. I would add that to your website if you haven't already.

-Keith

RE/MAX Olympic, Manassas VA

www.MyRealtorKeith.com

Aug 25, 2007 05:25 AM
Jason Crouch
Austin Texas Homes, LLC - Austin, TX
Broker - Austin Texas Real Estate (512-796-7653)
Wow - That is a great testimonial letter.  You had to reduce it by 50%?!?  That is some amazing persuasion.  Well done!
Aug 26, 2007 05:14 PM
Cheri Smith
Prudential Gary Greene, Cypress TX - Cypress, TX
Realtor Prudential Gary Greene
Jason, I don't know why he said that. When I originally talked to him about listing his house he wanted to list it for about $20,000 more than the comps in the area. So 50% is a bit of an exaggeration.
Aug 27, 2007 06:43 AM
Jason Crouch
Austin Texas Homes, LLC - Austin, TX
Broker - Austin Texas Real Estate (512-796-7653)
Cheri - It seemed really extreme to me, but he stated it like a casual fact.  Either way, it is an interesting and positive letter.  Good job -
Aug 27, 2007 06:48 AM
Portland Oregon Real Estate | Alecia Barnes - Broker
Portland, OR
Congratulations on a job well done! You've done well by your client, and it's so nice for him to express his complete satisfaction with your services in an eloquent letter.
Aug 27, 2007 08:31 AM
Vicki Bishop GRI - Alabama Real Estate
Coldwell Banker United Realtors® - Bay Minette, AL
Great job, and the referrals will be an added bonus.
Aug 27, 2007 09:41 AM
Donna Lueder
Integrity Group Inc. - Boise, ID
Meridian Idaho Real Estate
What a great testimonial. Hopefully this will be the first of may from him and his referrals.
Aug 27, 2007 09:54 AM
Cristina McBreairty
Century 21 Nortrh East - Windham, ME
Realtor, CDPE, SFR

Cheri,

Have you had much luck with your leads from Housevalue.com (other than this one)?

Sep 19, 2008 10:39 AM
Anonymous
Cheri'

Christina, I stopped using housevalues when my credit card was used by someone in Brazil to order motor cycle gear. I cancelled my card and stopped paying online till it was cleared up and housevalues would not accept any kind of payment but online credit cards so I dropped them.

Sep 20, 2008 04:08 AM
#17