What would convince you to work with a particular real estate agent on the sale of your home? It’s easy to get sidetracked by glitzy website graphics and corporate jargon. But the making of an excellent real estate agent isn’t in the number of deals they land or the notoriety of their clients; it’s the outcomes they get for people.
Cynthia Mills, a Home Sales Team Inc. Realtor®, has spent twenty years building a name to know about in California real estate. Recently featured as a Top 10 Agent in her state, the professional, also a Mortgage Loan Originator, identifies two key moments that characterize the service she offers today. These transactions illustrate the upside of partnering with the right Realtor®—but first, she introduces some invaluable advice to take into any scenario.
“To sellers; neutralize, neutralize, neutralize,” she says. ‘Neutralizing’ means separating your emotions from your property to guarantee an easier sale. You want buyers to see themselves living in your home. “To buyers, listen only to your Realtor®, not your friend or cousin who thinks they are a real estate agent. To sellers and buyers, hire a Realtor® that listens to you. Go with your gut.”
It’s seemingly straightforward advice from a professional with a storied career. While she has twenty years in home loan origination and real estate sales behind her, she has worked in sales her entire adult life. To find a professional with those qualities, look into their backstory for concrete examples of real-world success. To that end, this Realtor® shares the two defining moments from her career so far.
1. Turning ash into joy
Real estate professionals are presented with problems all day long, but what if a fire devastates a home? Cynthia Mills believes in turning an unfortunate event into a bright future. Staying optimistic and focusing on the opportunities created by setbacks could reveal rewards you previously missed.
“When my clients contacted me, they were devastated, after there was not much left of their home to sell,” Cynthia illustrates. “After her home was rebuilt, I sent her a few pictures—my client said she cried when she saw them. She was happy but emotional because it was where she had raised her family.”
“The plus was that I brought in buyers that are just starting their own family,” she continues. “Since the home included a separate living area for their mother to have her own space and be there for the arrival of new family members, they were especially pleased.”
In addition to getting an ideal outcome from a disastrous scenario, the Realtor® has also generated a significant profit from the sale for her clients. The new owners commenced their lives in a safer, more family-ready home. The blaze is now a distant memory.
2. Exceeding expectations by six digits
Money is always the elephant in the real estate room. Its relationship with a property’s sentimental value is unavoidable, so getting the right price is often personal for sellers. Thus, when an agent dramatically overperforms their client’s highest hopes, it can mark a hard-earned milestone in their career.
“My biggest accomplishment is a $500,000 rebuild that impressively sold for $1.6 million, $100,000 over the list price,” Mills states. “In the current decreasing market, that’s something worth talking about.”
“It’s always a win to find buyers that appreciate all the upgrades and hard work performed by my team,” she continues. “These buyers will be my clients as long as I’m here to care for them.”
The California Realtor® puts much of her success down to her financial know-how. While she has twenty years in real estate sales behind her, she has worked in sales her entire adult life. Finding a Realtor® with client services equal to their monetary know-how may be the perfect cocktail for a smooth and lucrative transaction.
Above all else, the professional’s defining moments reveal that you should value one characteristic above the rest: versatility. Find a real estate agent who can match your vision for your property’s potential and is one worth working with. Whether it’s a catastrophic curveball or a home with a fruitful future, be open to opportunities and choose a real estate agent who is, too.
