After 14 moves and real estate transactions over 27 years across 4 different States, my experience with Margaret Hokkanen and the Surf TheTurf team are without question the best in the business, both in helping me sell my Del Mar Heights townhome and the subsequent purchase of a single-family home in Carlsbad in the August-October 2007 timeframe.
I've dealt with all types of agents over the years -- only 3 of the 14 are ones I would recommend to anyone else, with Margaret and her team easily rising to the top position. Most of the agents and brokers I've used in the past are associated with the big corporate real estate firms ... where the name counts for something perhaps, but the true service delivered is pretty run of the mill ... flyers or postcards that are standard affair looking like everyone else except for a quick digital snapshot ... and some where as the seller you question what type of proactive or truly creative work is being done on your behalf -- or are they just trying to use you and your transaction to find another client with a bigger commission, while they hope and pray your place will sell using their substandard marketing tools?
Well, let me tell you, the SurfTheTurf team, led by Margaret Hokkanen, and her husband and business partner John who does all the webmaster/content work, photography, and techie business stuff behind the scenes, are stellar in every way -- from the exploration phase when you want to do your own research making a decision to actually buy or sell, and then to handle your sale or purchase of a new home.
Despite a very depressed market, Margaret and John were proactive across the ~13 weeks it took my townhome to sell. They quickly created a stunning customized glossy flyer with beautiful photography and captions to highlight my place -- that could have been on the front cover or as a centerfold of any big real estate magazine as if my place were a multi-million dollar home (it wasn't!) To top it off, they developed a customized walk-thru selling DVD of my home, attached hundreds of them to flyers and brochures, as well as viewable on the web. They walked the streets with multiple iterations of door hangers to establish interest; held open houses at my convenience (where other agents actually made comments they were getting people into their units in the same complex because of the marketing material the SurfTheTurf team had created and distributed on my behalf -- amazing!); sent out more than 2000 mailers, and kept interest up on the net with changing captions, pictures and videos not only on their own site but linked to others like Craigslist helping draw interest from a multitude of places on the web.
Margaret also did a stellar job of listening to my requirements on the buying side of my double transaction, narrowing down the selection given her experience in my target communities with a lot of things you'd never know otherwise. I'm comfortable using the net, as are Margaret and John, so we used email and custom pages they sent to me to further narrow and prioritize my "let's go see it list". As an experienced Realtor, Margaret knows her stuff and isn't afraid to use her vast resources to assist when needed. I'm a pretty focused guy, so we narrowed down the selection and had an offer out quickly -- unfortunately the selling agent didn't tell us about undisclosed hydrology litigation on the property until after the offer was written up and submitted. There was no pressure by Margaret for me to proceed despite all her work -- she wanted me to be happy and comfortable all the way. We dropped the offer and picked up on my priority "lets see it" list again that Margaret helped refresh with the latest -- having another offer out within days. Margaret knows who her client is, and was a good negotiator on my behalf. She was not just trying to get the deal to close to collect her commission as some agents do, especially in these hungry times. When the transaction went into escrow, unlike many, Margaret and her team stayed right on top of every detail on my behalf, kept the pressure up working for me and riding herd on the selling agent when needed, and continued to follow-up with me even after the deal was closed.
If you're looking for an extremely professional team that are not stuffy or "corporate" in the San Diego area, who always answer their phone and email, who remember who they are working for and that "only results count" through creative and proactive approaches, and charge a fee that is less than the bigger guys, check out www.SurfTheTurf.com, then give them a call. I doubt you'll be disappointed. read more
