WANT TO GET $1M OVER ASKING? HERE’S HOW

Superior Selling Services (and Getting You the Best Buyers Possible)

Selling comes naturally to us, which has served us well as it’s been a sellers’ market in San Francisco since 2012. But as things are shifting back toward a more balanced market it means sellers should expect to have trustworthy, fully committed and devoted agents working for them. Our Sellers not only get that but also get agents who are sociable marketing gurus with millions of dollars of sales knowhow and far-reaching networks who also happen to own a real estate superdog too.

Selling your property — often your most valuable asset — is something where you want full service that goes beyond the basics but service that is tailored to your needs and to a property’s potential as we strive to reach the best possible buyers out there.

We believe our approach is distinct from what other agents. As you’d guess, we believe we work harder than anyone we know, we fuss about the details and insist that we show off your property in the best light possible in order to attract the best possible buyers out there. We’re fastidious, driven and our seller services are turn-key, which will be very useful for you as you as you focus on the next home. We take the trust you place in us very seriously. 

We Tailor Our Approach to Every Property and Client with the Right Look, Touch and Feel 

We work our hardest to ensure our clients’ properties are showcased and presented in the best possible light to attract top-dollar. We sit down and work with each seller to tailor and craft a marketing plan that is designed to showcase the seller’s property in the best possible light. We create inspirational and aspirational spaces that appeal to the right buyer whether they’re end-owner users, developers, or investors.

We Have People You Can Call — or we can help out

We have a stable of stagers, painters, craft and trades people and trusted vendors who help implement our tailored marketing plan and vision we propose for your property. If all fails, we’ve painted, built garden walls, change lighting fixtures and corrected inappropriate staging ourselves — we are very hand’s on.  We identify areas to improve, provide you access to our vendor list (and discounts) as well as give you guidance as to what to expect from the market.

Fewer and Fewer Listings Every Year…

6 Basics States of Successful Selling

At least this isn’t a 12-step program. But to be fair, there are far more than 6 things to worry about when preparing a property for sale. That’s why it helps not only to have 2 agents, a big black dog, but also to have their team of vendors, tradespeople and professionals there to help

Step 1: Assessment & Preparation.

• We will identify your goals, the salient selling points of your property, and what buyers are seeking and identity where your property fits.
• We will assess how much your property is worth “as-is” and what it might be worth with improvements, proper staging or more…
• Each property we’re invited to review will will receive a detailed written assessment of what changes we think that can be made to make the property so it is the most appealing to the current market mood.
• We will offer our perspective on what we can expect in terms of price, demand, and how to best maximize what we have and what we can do given our network, experience and resources.

• We will prepare a detailed to-do checklist, marketing approach that identifies the likeliest buyers and how we can reach them.
• We will provide references to professionals such as accountants, lawyers, contractors, stagers and more given our budget, timeline, and circumstances.

Step 3: Fine Tuning & Broadcast Our Debut.

• Once we get started on our joint To-Do list we will be as involved or as detached as you like in implementation and execution — we tend to be more involved as there are lots of questions that our experience with buyers will help answer.
• We will work with you on the final touches for the property, including staging supervision, painting and prepping.
• In the final stages before our market debut we will implement our marketing plan that will use print media advertising, ‘coming-soon’ listings, inter-office advance promotions or plan an event or Raffi listing video according to our marketing plan.
• We will prepare top-quality collateral such as mailers, and paper statements and brochures along with professional photography to present your property as close to perfection as possible.
• We will create a customized website to showcase your property as well as using commercially available resources to syndicate that information to as many people as possible.
• We’ll also leverage our social and online media outlets, advertising and connections to generate buzz and disseminate awareness of your property.
• In addition, we will use all means possible appropriate to promote the property by using such outlets like events, television, feature articles, and sponsorships.

Stage 5: Accepting A Contract (or Two) & Starting the Escrow.

• After all goes well, we’ll accept offers and pick the best one(s) and accept one and potentially putting one or more offers in back-up positions. And, after that and before you know it… 
• We’re in escrow!
• Navigating the escrow process may be as stressful (and in some cases more stressful) than preparing the property or even negotiating the winning purchase contract. Different forces and factors beyond anyone’s control could (and most likely will) add some kind of complexity, delay and surprise to our transaction. Such causes can range from anything like an overly zealous inspector, a buyer’s lender’s lethargy, HOA issues, to just plain ol’ cold feet. In these cases we tell our clients that we’ve seen it all before and are able to handle it successfully (and if not, someone in our brokerage has) so that we close the sale successfully.
• But it’s our approach that a good defense often means having a good offense. We attempt to educate all potential buyers about a property before anyone makes an offer so that there are no surprises during escrow — or, if there are any they are fewer or less stressful.  We do this by working with our sellers to have the best possible disclosure documents that are truly informative, clear and understandable.

Step 2: Listing Agreement & Paperwork.

• We we agree on the listing terms and price (the price in the agreement will likely vary from what our actual published price will be) we’ll sign a standard listing agreement with each other (well between our brokerage and you). The agreement also lists the circumstances when a commission will be paid and how a buyer’s agent will be paid. 
• The Listing Agreement spells out our fiduciary duties to you which include loyalty, putting your interests above our own and presenting you any and all written offers. To us the Agreement’s duties are just the start as we strive to go above and beyond  to protect and promote our clients’ interests; to us it matters that you sell only if it’s right for you and it might come to pass that it’s not right now.
• After this, we work with our sellers to get all necessary documents and disclosure materials ready which are not only required by state law but also serve as yet another channel in which we can communicate with any potential buyer — it’s an opportunity most agents overlook but is one we have been recognized as excelling at. Statute-based obligations from California’s Civil Code requires sellers to provide different types of information about a property and the sellers’ ownership of it.  This is the time when we sit down with our clients and really go over these materials as we not only want to have the best prepared buyers making offers but we also want to protect our clients from any future risk by failing to disclose.
• This is also the time when we might get pre-sale inspections that are intended not only to inform you about the property but also to inform would-be buyers too so that they take any issues into account when submitting an offer; better to front-load the process than have a surprise come up later!

Stage 4: Meeting The Public.

The open house — it’s tried and true. Be prepared for Saturdays, Sundays and other days of the week too. And we will need to have your property in showcase form as we only get one opportunity to debut on the market.

• Broker Tours are on Tuesdays and are just as important as public open houses if not more so because this is the speed-dating of open houses for brokers with buyers.
• Private showings and evening showings are going to be required for the most serious of buyers (or not)
• Negotiations. Coming to agreement on terms means more than price. I’ll be able to give you context of what’s happening out in the market generally, the pros and cons of each offer and suggestions on how best to proceed.

TIMING CAN MAKE OR BREAK A LISTING’S SUCCESS

Why Timing Matters

THERE are still plenty of old school agents and clients in San Francisco.  Why does this matter?  Well, unlike agents who are plugged in 24/7 such as Kevin+Jonathan, many of these old-school agents tended to bring their listings on only at certain times of the year based on the calendar and people’s traditional attention spans. Those times centered around the Super Bowl (no, really, what else are you going to do on a Sunday?), Tax Day (always sees a dip), the 4th of July (the summer slowdown really kicks in), Labor Day (when everyone is back from vacation) and the general slide down towards and through the holidays. Knowing when and how to debut your property is what our successful experience brings to the table in addition to many other skills and is something we will collaborate with you and your goals accordingly.

Key:   ▀ = Condos and TIC units;  ▀  = Single family homes

Source: San Francisco MLS

Some Q+As for Sellers

1. Why are you selling?
2. What are your financial goals? Personal goals?
3. Where are you going or where do you want to go?
4. When do you want to start?
5. Who is on title? Is everyone in agreement on selling?
6. What is the property worth to you? Why?
7. Sometimes it takes spending money to earn more money, are you willing to do that?
8. And why haven’t you called Kevin+Jonathan yet?

Success Story: Your Agent Knows Best, Right? 

Going Above and Beyond in Noe Valley in Just 2 Years

A WORD FROM OUR CLIENTS:

We were very happy with Kevin as our buying agent when we bought our Noe Valley house. We got a great house in a great neighborhood and we weren’t even the highest bidders at the time.

Why Successful Sellers Picked Kevin+Jonathan

Dedicated. Hard-working. Enthusiastic. Media-Savvy. Design-Oriented. Warm. Sophisticated. And More… 

Those are some of the descriptors of our listing services, but they are much more than words. Our seller services reflects our dedication to getting what’s best for you — even if it’s unclear on how we will get there and where there is. What should be clear is that we will work our very hardest for you. We will bring our considerable skills, experience and those of our brokerage to bear in our engagement. We are great at what we do and we truly love what we do and we know you will to. And, what’s more is that we’re here for the long-run so if you’re selling now or later we’re here. While each property is different, our general approach to selling will involve the following steps:

1. Pre-listing & Coming Soon activities: Property evaluation, assessment, valuation, create marketing plan, implement
2. Just Listed: broker-to-broker, media & advertising, and the MLS
3. Open Houses: Personally hosted and publicized
4. Navigating Escrow: Locking the best offer down to closing
5. Post-Closing: what next?

Take a look at the steps in greater detail below:

California’s Civil Code places an affirmative obligation on sellers to disclose property conditions that may materially impact a buyer’s purchase decision. If done properly, standard California disclosures are tantamount to a property’s life story — at least to the seller’s best abilities. Buyers will be strongly advised to conduct investigations to their own satisfaction before proceeding with the purchase. Along with the preliminary title report our completion of standardized disclosures should give buyers an extremely accurate — if not overly involved — snapshot of the property you are about to sell. Certain disclosures may become important to appraisers, lenders, and general contractors who are planning on doing some work on the property before or after escrow closes.

The Disclosures That Need to be Completed:

(click on each to see more)

Media Coverage of Our Listings

It’s not just us who toot our listing agent skills. Take a look at our listings in the media.

• 1072 Noe Sells for Nearly $1M Over Asking

Media in General

On Curbed On SFGate