Jim was absolutely amazing. We started our home buying process 2 years ago. In all honesty, we probably weren’t ready to buy a house when we first reached out to Jim. We looked at about 8-10 homes and realized that we should take a break. In the 18 months that followed, Jim repeatedly checked in on us to make sure things were going well but never pushed. When we were finally ready, Jim was as excited as we were.
We provided Jim with listings that we were interested in (which I prefer over having an agent provide us with listings) and he was willing to visit as many houses as we could handle. In December, we visited about 10 homes in one day. None of them were quite right, but Jim kept us positive.
In January, we visited another 10 homes and really liked 3 of them. By the next morning, one of the three was off the market. We felt like we had to move right away to have a chance at the home we wanted. It was then that Jim’s advice and knowledge were invaluable. He kept us positive and moving forward, and he let us know that the process was normal: that we weren’t the first couple to get frustrated. This, among other things, helped us keep our perspective.
The next day, we saw the house that immediately jumped to the top of our list. I reached out to Jim at noon and we were taking a tour by 5:00 that night. Jim rejoiced with us and helped us through nerves as we discussed the next steps. We called the mortgage company to ask them to start the process.
Within 24 hours, Jim’s company had all of the paperwork completed and submitted our offer. Later that night, he called us to let us know that we were one of five people/couples to make an offer. Jim spent about 25 minutes with us at about 9:15 at night helping us figure out if we should increase our offer or not. The reality is he really didn’t offer much advice in that phone call, as he didn’t want to push us towards a decision we weren’t comfortable with. Instead, he allowed us to voice our concerns and helped us stay the course. Jim mostly answered questions about what negotiating options might make sense (increasing the price, decreasing the closing assistance, etc.)
Our offer was quickly accepted, and we turned to Jim for advice again when we were looking at the prospect of inspection, home warranty, and home insurance. Jim’s service throughout this process was significantly better than I could have ever expected.
When we had questions, Jim was there to answer them or find someone who could. When we were worried or frustrated, Jim was there to calm us down. When we needed a recommendation on what company to reach out to, Jim had the perfect people. We used Jim’s suggestions for our Mortgage Company, inspector, home warranty, and insurance provider. Every one of them has been fantastic so far.
As a quick example of how dedicated Jim is, I wanted to offer a story of something that isn’t exactly part of our home buying experience. During our process, I told Jim that I was considering taking real estate classes and that I was interested in being a part-time agent. Jim agreed to meet me for lunch to discuss the ups and downs of being an agent. As was the case with purchasing our home, Jim didn’t tell me what I should or should not be doing, but listened, questioned, and encouraged me to find my own opinions.
I will literally recommend Jim to every person that I know who is purchasing or selling a home in the future.