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PREFACE |
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SITE CONTENTS Purchase Product
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(from Sell It By Owner and Save) When the project of writing this book began over ten years ago my colleagues wanted to know why I, a real estate broker, was interested in revealing information previously hidden from the average homeowner. They believed that, because of my business expertise, were I to write such a book, it would be a bombshell and they wondered about the impact such a book would have in the "world of real estate." Over the course of many years in real estate I made it a practice to talk with hundreds of customers, clients and strangers, that crossed my path on issues related to buying and selling real estate. I was especially interested in hearing their stories, and their honest opinions about their experiences. At the time I made no conscious attempt to amass the information to compile a book of their experiences. Yet, years later, it seemed fitting with what I knew that I could combine this information with the inside story of buying and selling real estate to create a ‘book of knowledge’ that could assist both buyers and sellers. This was the genesis for a diary of notes that eventually led to formulating the outline for this book. It’s no secret that many homeowners would love to save money by selling their own home. Statistics show that one in five homeowners try to sell their own home for various reasons, the most popular being to save the commission. Those same statistics indicate however that only a small percentage of by-owner sellers actually succeed in selling their home. This tells me that by-owner sellers generally lack the knowledge necessary to see the process to completion, give up and list their home with an agency. It was for this and other reasons that prompted me to undertake this project. From my own experiences I’ve learned that the buying and selling public places an extraordinary amount of trust in real estate professionals, and places in their hands the biggest investment of a lifetime, the sale or purchase of their home. Unfortunately, many homeowners had experiences with real estate agents that were disappointing. This, in part, also prompted me to write this book. There is no doubt that in real estate, as in any profession, there are those whose level of skill or competency exceeds others. Anyone who has ever called tech support for computer or software related problems could relate to this. This also holds true in the medical, legal, technical field and every other industry. Real estate is one vocation that requires little or no college education, experience or prior skills. Yet we, in the business, find ourselves assisting people with the single largest investment they will make and sometimes doing so cavalierly with little regard to the responsibility placed in our hands. I don’t pretend to believe that this one book will change the way the average home buyer or home seller will do business but I do believe the reader will gain a new and unique insight into real estate. It is my hope that you read this book cover to cover. Sincerely, Michael M. Kloian |