Having listed our home for sale at the end of January 2010 and having a signed contract in hand by mid-February and an all-cash close before the end of March, we consider ourselves quite fortunate to have been represented by Riley Smith and his team at EWM Realtors® on the sale of our 1994 home in the SW Grove.
Riley was referred to us by long and good friends of ours who had known Riley and his parents for decades. We first met with Riley more than a year before we listed, as we weighed options to relocate from Miami. His advice at that time helped shape what we would be looking for in our relocation search. Riley checked in with us a couple of times during the next year or so, just keeping tabs without being intrusive. When we called him in January 2010 to tell him we were going to be moving -- quickly -- and wanted to list our home, he was ready to go from day one.
Riley was honest about what it would take to sell our home. He defined what type of buyer would be our primary target (and that's what our buyer turned out to be). We told him we wanted to sell within six months (which was an aggressive target for the market at the time) and he came in with pricing recommendations that he believed could get us there. Which it did. Our home sold in just a couple of weeks; we had our signed contract even before the first open house for the general public was held.
The service we received was exemplary. We got a call with a report after every showing of the house. Riley or someone on his team was at the house every time it was shown and they handled follow-up questions from potential buyers quickly and (for us) easily. Our buyer was fairly demanding on a number of points, but Riley clearly bore the brunt of that, allowing us to focus on our own pending move and relocation.
When we bought our home in 2000, we used another EWM office. We saw the value in both transactions in working with EWM. On this recent sale, EWM hooked us up with a wonderful local Realtor in the Northern Virginia area who did as great a job in finding us our new home as Riley did in selling our former residence.
All in all, it was a wonderfully positive experience. No complaints. Much appreciation, even a year later, for all that Riley and EWM did to help us.
I know and understand the hassles of interviewing competing Realtors. My wife and I have certainly experienced the over-promise and under-deliver method of securing listings. Riley clearly promises conservatively and then does everything within reason to over deliver on that promise. We wouldn't want it any other way.
Riley's parents were two of the most beloved and respected community leaders of the '60s/70s/80s in Miami. And, while Riley doesn't know everybody, he has a array of satisfied clients, friends and others that allow him to close the sale on such a large and diverse number of properties in the Grove and elsewhere. read more