A Very Personal Referral Through the RE/MAX Family
It was very touching when the "For Sale" sign went up as I was visiting my parents over the Thanksgiving 
holiday! It must have been several years ago when they first had mentioned they were thinking about selling their beautiful home in Richmond, VA. They had asked how they should go about finding an agent, whether they should use the agent that helped them purchase the home or call an agent that had a for sale sign in their neighborhood? We mentioned that they should really get someone who specialized in listing and selling properties, who was an expert in the area, who excelled in Internet Marketing and so forth. I was a little reluctant at first to get them a referral for the fear that what if the person I got them sucked and then I would feel bad, but then I said, you know what, let me look more into this, after all, I did get referrals for everyone else AND they are my parents and heck, I did own a RE/MAX office!
Well, as usual, there were 2 large RE/MAX offices nearby. I looked them both up and did some due diligence and called up the broker of the office at RE/MAX Commonwealth. The conversation was pretty straight forward. Basically it was "Hey, this is Chris Somers. I own RE/MAX Access in Philadelphia. My parents own a property in the Raintree development and I would like to refer them to an agent in your office. I would really like one of your top agents to work with them, someone who really knows what they are doing, specializes in listings, excels in Internet Marketing and is familiar with their area. " He said "No problem. Hands down, Janice Taylor."
My parents have been thrilled with the communication and the service so far. She really has gone the extra mile and beyond. For example, I do not know too many agents that include 5 hours of staging into their commission. She also has helped them with little errands here and there by going to Loews and picking up items for them. She has been incredibly patient with them with their time-frame as they are now finally ready. Of course there is still a lot of work to do but I feel very confident that they are in great hands !
On the agent side of this, one of the huge benefits about being with RE/MAX is that these types of referrals are quite common. In Philadelphia, I must receive at least close to a dozen referral clients a year from other agents all over the country I do not even know. I attribute that to the fact that I am with RE/MAX and can be found on www.remax.com or www.activerain.com and all over the web which provides a huge advantage to receive that referral business -- being easy to find and having that strong brand name behind you.
Obviously in the case with my parents, instead of myself receiving a referral, the referral will go back to them instead. With their fixed income and the rising costs of treating my father's medical needs, it warms my heart that I can help out in this capacity. I am still a bit nervous that everything will work out for them and I may want to negotiate for them on their behalf from a distance but I think Janice's 30 years of experience and her incredible team is more than enough to suffice !
Feel free to subscribe to our blog or our monthly newsletter to stay up to date with our latest posts and information on the Philadelphia Real Estate Market. You can also sign up to receive the Philadelphia Real Estate Blog via email.
