This agent has 13 reviews.
- Sold my house on July 19, 2021 through Stephanie Schulte, and I wanna leave my review to help somebody considering her as his/her realtor.
- Good Thing : property sold
- Recommend to : Real Estates Expert (who knows do everything by themselves)
- Not Recommend to : First buyer / Seller, Normal person who is not expert. (read below for reason)
- Seller's Experience with her
- a. After signing the contract (Seller's agent), she never picked up the call I made. then texted back as she is busy and retuning message took up to 4 ~ 36 hours. - **please check your contract period. mine was 3 month so for three months, I was stuck with her.**
- b. Listing - I asked her about the time line up to listing, she never answered right after I asked her about the schedule. Even with delays, she never told me the exact schedule, such as when the listing will be done, when the pictures will be taken, or when buyers can see the property. **You may should discuss with her about the timing and schedule up front. then you can see the situation correctly. I felt that she wanted to control herself not to become busy or a lot of works with tons of offers (2021 July was hot seller's market).**
- c. taking offer - with hot market, she only showed me three offers and gave me only 2 hours to choose for the highest she gave. I hoped agent showing me all the offers and guide me as much as they can. But she gave no explanation, only to limit your choice and pushed me to move forward. **You may ask her to give you all the offers (exact emails from the buyer's agent) because still I can't believe she showed me all of the offers. (I talked her to do so, and she said yes but never did)**
- d. After offer - my contract was Conventional Loans and changed to VA Loans after getting highest price. The market was hot and VA Loan limits not to purchase the property too much more than it's appraised value (meaning if my houses' appraised values is 188K then you can't sell it more than that, even if your signed purchasing contract with value of 190.5K.) When I asked about the difference between Conventional and VA Loans, she explained as "only the seller pays more closing cost." She might have been busy to explain but ultimately, it cost me $1,300 to reduce the price lower than the contract. **If you don't know the all the details of Real Estates rules and products, you may need different type of realtor. because you may not hear detailed explanation from her**
- e. After Inspection - She gave (emailed) me the inspection list and list of items for the inspection sheet. No explanation as usual. I called all the contacts of hers (I used all the contracts worked for her) and tried to get quotes. All repairs I got quotes from $1,000 ~ $2,000. and I asked her to negotiate with the buyer from $1,000. She said yes. but I have not received any proof she actually communicated with the buyer. When I asked her, she said that she verbally talked to them and buyer said no. Repair cost ended up total of $3,000
($350 + 1,900 + $700). Be aware that after inspection, meeting the buyer's expectation is the top priority to get it done. **You need to prepare to protect your decision (I was already stuck with her for 3 months, and I used her contract so everybody is working for her, not for me - even repairing item and cost was discussed with her, not with me. I was not shared with invoices and repair details until 10 mins prior to closing) - I recommend getting repair quotation from your own contractor who is working for you. It is clear and good for you at the end. She is too busy to consider all of your benefit. She only wants to move forward.**
- f. Closing - I received the closing information 2 hour earlier it's schedule. She never shared how much I have to pay her contractors (for repair) and not showed pictures and invoices her contractor discussed with her. I think it is because it will be better for her to move forward. (At the closing, I didn't have choice. because I was stuck with her for 3 months even I broke the contract)
- g. Final Advice -
0) if you don't know or don't have enough experience, you should find a different agent.
1) limit your contract period (I recommend 3 ~ 4 weeks, It is enough to finish one whole process and you can reconsider)
2) Do not get confused with 5.5% commission (0.5% I saved and paid $1000 more for repair, sold $1300 less than the original offer)
3) make sure up front with her, if you can check through each steps with full of explanation and proof.
(Offers, communication with buyers, and contractors for repairs)
3) double check the quotes and prices with your own contractors
2021