This week I had the opportunity to work with a great couple from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. We viewed a large number of resale properties and many builder communities (both single family and condos) in Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, and Gold Canyon. By Thursday morning my clients had narrowed down the search to either a resale in Gold Canyon, or a new build at Seville in Gilbert. We revisited Gold Canyon first then headed off to Gilbert. After almost five full days in the car my clients were physically and mentally exhausted. Enter Megan Smith – a community rep for Shea Homes at La Quintana at Seville in Gilbert.
Megan was excellent! She listened to my clients. She openly answered their questions without pushing for a sale. She took the time to work up a cost sheet including determining upgrade costs. There was no sales pitch. There was no push to upgrade. It made it so much easier for my clients to think about what they really wanted.
We returned to work with Megan at La Quintana on Friday. She patiently answered questions from my clients as well as from me. If she didn’t have the answer she told us she didn’t know but would be able to get the information by email within a few minutes ”“ and she did! My clients are happy and I am happy for them. Megan Smith gets it and I have to believe that Shea Homes gets it too.
Megan was great, and was extremely helpful ”“ by far the best builder’s rep I’ve worked with. If you are looking for a home in La Quintana, you should ask for her. But, as always, you really should ALSO have your own agent representing you if you are purchasing a new-build home!
Thinking about purchasing a Shea new build in the Phoenix area? There is a coupon available for $1000 in upgrades at Shea’s web site. It’s a little tricky to find (I can’t link to it directly). Go to this page, and click on this icon:
You must complete the information (including your accurate email address) to obtain the coupon.
Realtors: You can obtain a Realtor coupon by registering for the Shea Realtor Network.
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The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
I am glad to hear there are good new build agents and some honest and fair builders out there- I have been working with my client for 2 YEARS- we stood in line at the lottery for a lot, finally got a lot, picked out all of her upgrades, to make this their dream home, watched almost all the Lotto winners drop out, watched the market turn, and now at the 11th hour, the appraisal has come in $100K under my clients final purchase price and now the builder is having a "third" party "look" at the appraisal. Even though, they just sold the house next door, with more upgrades for $40k below the appraised value of my clients house. Builders do the right thing-take care of your highly qualified people!!! I am lining up my "people" if the builder does not do the right thing. Sorry for the rant but- I hate when good people are not treated as they should be!
Although I've never dealt with Megan, I've had great experiences at Seville at both Escala and La Mirada. The builder's reps at this community understand the difference between being too pushy and acting uninterested.
I think a great asset to buyers is to have a buyer's agent, as you said, because a lot of the pressures of "selling" are taken off the builder's agents' minds … which means they can focus on the client and not trying to close the sale because they realize that it is not themselves that will close the sale – but the buyer's agent that will help the buyer come to a final decision.
Glad to hear there are still people out there taking pride in their work, understanding their product and actually helping the customer make an informed choice and not just chasing the buck. Restored some faith.
Good to hear it Jay!
Most times the builders' agent is so pushy that my clients are ready to leave almost as soon as they arrive. With all the hype like "prices may be going up after this weekend", or "these incentives may not be available after this weekend" and so on.
Matt Pellerin
After having sold for KB Home for years then going into resale, its amazing how many new home reps have absolutly no clue what they are doing or talking about. I thought all the things I knew about new construction was common knowledge obviously not. Good to hear there are a few good ones still left. I think due to the market being in declne a lot of good new construction reps left to resale, or another high paying sales job.
Anytime the words Virginia and REALTOR appear in the same blog post, I feel strangely compelled to leave a comment. Have a nice day! 😉
Ben – You're one funny guy (and truly an asset to the VAR). As (I think) you know, I'm a "native son" of the Great Commonwealth of Virginia, so I fully respect your compulsion.
BTW, my lovely bride penned this post. She's gonna really be Mrs. Phoenix Real Estate Guy before you know it… 😉
There not to push anymore. We just had a huge new home action. A new construction agent actually set that up