Victoria Schlutz

The first step is find an agent who is a local expert. It is very important to remember that you're not just buying a house -- you're buying a community. The agent's first step (or if yours if you're an over achiever) is to get you prequalified with a trustworthy lender. Personally, I use lenders with Elevations Credit Union when I purchase my homes because they pre order appraisals which makes the whole process run a lot smoother.

1. Remove personal touches from your house before showings (family photos, flags, college degrees, awards, etc.) Typically buyers get distracted by these items and instead of looking at the home they try to figure out who the owners are. 2. Keep the house as clean as possible (counter tops, floors, bathrooms etc.) Again, buyers get distracted by dirty house and it's an immediate turn off. 3. If a house is vacant staging is important to give a sense of what people can do with the rooms. Just like having too much in a room can be distracting, too little can also be distracting. 4. There a very things a seller can control: The price, the availability of the home to potential buyers and the realtor who is listing the property (They control the marketing and exposure of the home). 5. The market changes regularly so ask your realtor what would be the best updates to get the most "bang for your buck" or ROI. Not every dollar you put into your home in repairs will spit out a dollar. In 2021 we are seeing buyers pay more for completely updated properties than before because most of their cash is going toward covering appraisal gaps, or down payments so they don't have the cash to do upgrades once moved in.

I typically work with first time home buyers and investors.

My most recent transaction of 890 Bruce St, was my favorite transaction thus far. It was for a dear friend who is a firefighter but also operates a crane. He works every day of the week and he put a lot of faith in me to: 1.) Find the home (He put in an offer before he saw the home.) 2.) Be extremely clear with him with what EXACTLY he had to do so he could get everything done during his lunch breaks. 3.) Keep the lender on tract and the other agent He trusted me completely with negotiations and every other part of the transaction. He absolutely loves his new home and I feel so rewarded that I could help him get an ask listing offer, with seller concessions in this crazy market and his crazy schedule.

My mom and grandmother were both realtors. This has been my life since I was born. For a long time I thought I was going to be a doctor (hence my degrees in science) but I realized that helping people find homes is where my passion is. There are so many realtors who don't know what they are doing and those realtors give everyone a bad name. Clients need a realtor who knows what they are doing and who can help them make the best decision possible for their specific situation.