“Brian is knowledgeable, dedicated, kind, and communicative. He's also not pushy and he doesn't sugar-coat anything, which won over my total respect. He makes sure that you have all the information you need and consistently goes the extra mile -- his attitude is absolute gold! When he's with you, you won't feel rushed, and if he can't answer a question (which is rare) he will find out and get back to you. Brian is definitely the person you want by your side through this process, as he has your best interest at heart and it shows. As soon as you meet him you will get the sense of his depth of expertise, patience, and caring. 110% recommend.” -Tiffany
In our industry, 90% of our job as realtors are to look for new clients. BH group disagrees. We focus only on serving our active clients who are referrals from past clients and anyone else who has found us on their own. We spend 0% of our time on “lead generation” and 100% of it on serving our clients through direct client-specific work or maintaining our above-average competency.
Of course, spending no time lead generating means we work with fewer clients at a time. What does working with fewer clients mean for our agents and buyers? Our average buyer wins after only 1-2 offers and only needs to search for 1-8 weeks. We don't rush our clients - We just provide our buyers with more home options and more research much sooner giving our clients more time to consider homes even in the Pacific Northwest’s faster pace market.
Our personalized approach allows us the time to learn what you truly want in a home. We take our time educating new and seasoned homebuyers about new policies, strategies, and tools.
We research homes, sellers, sellers’ motivation, buyer competition, and current market trends to better understand the home and our chances of winning the home. We also locate additional documents and information to help in creating a strong yet safe offer by safely adding or removing contingencies to better our chances of winning - While keeping you safe.
We provide education, research, assistance, guidance, strategies, and negotiations from the beginning to end of the transaction - Actually, we hope to remain a resource forever after.
Distinctively BH
In-App Chat + Video Tours
The sooner you see a home the larger of an advantage you have! After gaining an understanding of what an active, pre-approved buyer is looking for, we preview homes to see if they may be a match. If we think it’s a match, we may try to get you to visit the home as soon as possible or we may even take a video of it to send to you via the COMPASS App. We can also FaceTime or video stream video to you live as if you are there with us! Many of our clients are out of state and our techniques, commentaries, and technology allow for many happy buyers to be able to buy from afar safely and comfortably. We do this for all of our local clients so that you can be the first to see the home, even if it’s just on a phone or computer screen!
Discounts on Inspections
Even in red-hot markets, we always recommend an inspection. We’ll help strategize when and how to conduct your inspection. We have a Rolodex of inspectors that I’ve vetted and use on my own yearly purchases. Licensed and bonded home inspectors protect your purchase and educate you on how to maintain a home. Inspections typically cost 300-800 per home. We work with several inspectors who are not only some of the most certified experts but also offer heavy discounts for our buyers. If need be, we will ensure last-minute requests are met as we would never ask for you to waive an inspection contingency without being protected. We'll also advise you if we think you can include a post-offer inspection too to save time, money, and stress.
Always Accessible
We work around the clock for mission readiness. The sooner we see a home, the less competition we may have - The less competition the less likelihood of a bidding war - No one likes bidding wars. Call/text/email/dm anytime. We don’t use a 24hr hotline to connect you to some random newer agent or call center - We always pick up for our active clients.
CLICK HERE to check out the COMPASS App where we search, communicate, and request a showing, all in one app!
Our Expertise Is Your Expertise
We don't just excel in training, certifications, seminars, and courses so that we may show off letters behind our name - We do it to better serve you. With our high production in successful buyer and listing transactions, we have experience. If we can't answer your questions, we won't waste your time by pretending to. Instead, we will research the answer for you or refer you to the proper resources. Additionally, we pride ourselves in being full-service agents who know both the listing and buyer side - This means we keep up-to-date with trends in the marketplace and understand what the 'other side’ of the transaction wants. We also don't hand you off to a “specialist” who only handles one portion of the transaction before handing it off to the next agent. Use of “specialists” is very efficient for discount brokerages and teams utilizing new or less-producing agents. Why should you, the buyer have to explain to a new agent every time you are handed off; Why should you feel comfortable about the 'next agent' working off of the previous agent's notes or summary? The typical buyer's perspective, knowledge, and search criteria oftentimes evolve - We will be there to evolve with you every step and from beginning to end!
Beyond Negotiations
Any agent can search, place an offer, and hand you keys a month later. How BH Group brokers differ is how we keep you safe before, during, and after the transaction. We prepare, strategize, and negotiate throughout the entire transaction to keep you safe - And we are excellent at it. Like a grandmaster in chess, we keep an eye on eight moves ahead to reduce risks and to keep you in the most advantageous position.
Client Events and Resources
We’ll start off with catering your housewarming, then at least once a year you and your guests will be invited to our annual private client music/food/wine events. We also will remain your 24/7 and forever advisor to all things home-contractor recommendations and expert general contractor advice.
-
Yes, there will be a hard inquiry on your credit. However, it will only drop your credit a few points and only once, no matter how many applications you make in a 2-week period (i.e., applying to 1 lender = 1 hard hit; shopping 2+ lenders = still only 1 hard hit). Ask about our lender shopping worksheet and process!
-
2-3 months but are extended with “soft pulls”. The typical Seattle home buyer takes many months or even years to find and win a home. So when your preapproval expires, your lender will only have to conduct a "soft pull" on your credit to see if there are any changes before you write an offer - This will not decrease your credit score.
-
In our area, there is no chance you'll have an offer accepted without a preapproval. Even prequalifications make a weak offer. The source of that information you found is probably not from someone in our market and also anyone can write a blog, news article, or some other form of "advice", even ghostwriters from other countries and an increasing number of articles written with AI. In other areas of the country, the time to close can be as long as 60 days and it's common to have longer contingencies. In our area, the average time to close is 25-28 days and we have a lot of strong offers that can close in 10-20 days, even with jumbo or portfolio loans. These offers can more easily beat other offers even if "lowballing" but would require that you have already not only been preapproved, but already working with a lender in obtaining "preapproval through underwriting" and only if that particular lender provides such a preapproval.
-
No. An automated home evaluation tool like Zestimate, Redfin estimate, or the hundreds of others out there is rarely accurate in our Seattle or PNW market. Our market is too diverse and our communities are too mixed in zoning, styles, sizes, and price points. For our buyers, we will run a comp report as part of the research we do when considering a home or when preparing an offer.
Common Q&A’s
Buyer Timeline
-
Discovery Meeting via Google Meet or in person - Click to schedule
Set up the Compass App and shared “Collection”
Set up a search and share favorite past and favorite current listings into the shared collection. Share any listings you have visited and add remarks in the comments section of each listing of what you liked and didn’t like about the home.
Evidence of funds or get preapproved. Click for lender info
Discovery Tour
-
Agent launches search and collaborates in Compass Collection
Agent previews homes
Buyer reviews videos uploaded in Compass Collections
Underwrite Pre-Approval when 1-2 months from making an offer
Weekly Tours any frequency, any day
Private showings Anytime 8am-8pm and any day
-
Draft and sign the offer a day before the offer presentation
Agent presents offer. Potential initial negotiations.
Continue to the transaction phase OR return to the search phase
-
Clear contingencies such as inspection, HOA review, and financing contingencies
Secondary negotiations due to appraisal/title/inspection/contingency findings
Prepare for closing: pay all costs to close
-
Possession of property Typically on the same day of closing
First mortgage payment after a full month (i.e. closing on January 2nd = first payment in March)
Condos typically send the welcome package and register new owners in the call box within 1-2 weeks of the closing
Reach out weeks, months, or years after closing, as you’ll probably discover things or questions about your new home. We are still available 24/7 to be your resource
Look out for invitations to our private BH Circle events in your email
