Anyone out there on the hunt for a broker?
…In the South Bay, specifically?
I know quite a lot of you are at this very moment answering a resounding (and vaguely depressed) “yes” to this question, because whoa have I ever gotten a lot of “THIS IS THE WORST NO BUT SERIOUSLY JORDAN IT’S THE WORST” emails lamenting the disaster that is real-estate purchasing in Silicon Valley. So: I thought I would pass on my recommendation. As miserable as it was trying to buy a house in what might very well be the hottest market that has ever existed anywhere, at any time, for all eternity…Kirsten Reilly and Fran Papapietro of Sereno Group made it better.
I’m a very, very big believer in the wonder that is finding a broker who’s the right fit for you – to this day, I’m close friends with the woman who helped us find our Tarrytown house – and think it’s all about finding that balance between someone you want speaking on your behalf (because they will be, and in very emotionally and financially weighty situations), and finding someone who you straight-up want to spend time with. Because you will be spending a LOT of time with them, and things will get very personal between you. (My brokers know everything from my income to what my kids are into at the moment to why Kendrick and I had that fight that one time, because I had it while sitting in a car next to one of them. Like I said: things get personal.)
The decision of who to go with is an individual one, of course, but personally, here’s what I look for in a broker:
- Someone with a similar kinda deal to what I’ve got going on – similar educational background, similar basic financial situation, similar age, a parent, etc. I don’t need to find a Jordan Clone, but having someone who already gets which room would make a great playroom and what kind of school I’m probably looking for can create a shorthand that makes the whole process infinitely easier.
- Someone who will tell me everything that’s wrong with a house (because I have a tendency to love everything, and I need someone to balance out all that sunshine-and-rainbows).
- Someone who is not afraid to say to me, “No. You cannot live here” (see: aforementioned sunshine-and-rainbow tendencies). Fran totally told me that I was not allowed to live in the one-room cabin in the woods – and I believe she used the exact words: “No. You cannot live here.” Which was a good thing, because there were moments when I got desperate enough that I started thinking “But maybe it would be kind of…charming?”
- Someone who actually lives in the area I’m looking at, or at least very close by; while laws in some areas prevent brokers from giving you their personal opinions on, say, schools, you can still get a lot of inside information this way.
- Someone who I feel comfortable having speak on my behalf.
- Someone I want to hang out with (because like I said: that’s going to happen. A lot).
Mostly, though? What I look for is someone who is kind. And honest. And a straight shooter. Because no home, no matter how spectacular, is worth generating bad karma for.
