Diane Barkley, Realtor

Buying or selling your property is no small matter. If you're an average American, your home represents your largest investment. Protecting that investment and making your transaction flow smoothly are two hallmarks of a professional Realtor.

Selling Your Home

These are not normal times for the real estate business. In many places, property values have dropped and finding a buyer has become more difficult. It is more important than ever that your Realtor work closely with you to

• Program all the steps needed for a successful transaction
• Make your house an attractive investment for some lucky buyer—minimizing any negative factors and emphasizing the outstanding features of your house
• Understand today's real estate markets—evaluating sales of comparable properties and helping you to deal with mortgages, taxes, repairs, inspections, and more
• Actively advertise and promote your property to prospective buyers—including skillful use of websites and internet services as well as traditional flyers, newspapers and signs

Buying Property

A professional Realtor is your best friend when you decide to purchase a home, land in the country or on the lake, or a business property. In fact, having a Realtor represent you in searching for property and negotiating for a purchase often means the difference between getting exactly what you want and becoming frustrated with setbacks and glitches.

A professional Realtor can help you to

• Find the widest possible selection of properties that fit your needs—in the area you want and in the price range that fits your budget
• Contact and negotiate with sellers and real estate companies who represent them
• Cover all your bases—know what precautions to take and keep your expenses down so that you can have confidence that your transaction is what you want it to be
• Go to closing with no surprises—be informed concerning everything that affects your negotiation, your pocketbook, and your peace of mind

What Your Realtor Does for You

Why should I select a real estate professional to represent me? Good question—and there are some good answers you need to know. We have listed three very important ways your Realtor works for you.

• Your Realtor helps you get the best possible deal.
• Your real estate agent is working for you and has your best interests at heart. Agents are not allowed to represent both the buyer and the seller in a transaction, so it is important that you have a competent professional to represent your wishes throughout the search, purchase and closing procedures.
• As a buyer's agent, your Realtor has access to information about properties listed by many different companies—once you have chosen an agent, you do not have to go to the inconvenience of calling many different agents and companies.
• When you see a "For Sale" sign and want the information on that property, just call your Realtor representative who can get all the information on that property regardless of whose sign is in front.
• As a seller's agent, your Realtor protects you from being overwhelmed with phone calls, visits, and questions. Your agent helps you in market strategy, schedules visits according to your needs, notifies other companies and agents that your property is for sale, and takes care of all the questions prospective buyers ask. You have peace of mind knowing that everything is being taken care of without unnecessary inconvenience to you.
• Your Realtor is your best source of information that affects your economic health.
• As your representative, your chosen Realtor will search tax and sales records, examine your property and make photos for internet and print advertising, report to you the findings of such people as the building code, termite, plumbing, and appraisal people. Just the collecting and organizing of this large amount of information will give you the edge in selling your property.
• Your Realtor works hard to help your deal to happen.
• There are dozens of hang-ups that come along in the average real estate transaction. Your Realtor makes a big difference in whether your property sells and whether your purchase offer is accepted.
• Your Realtor has had rather extensive educational training and experience and works hard researching all the information that affects your transaction. Because of this, your Realtor can make valuable recommendations that can help your transaction toward completion.
• You, of course, are the one who makes the actual decisions, but having all the information makes those decisions easier.
• Your Realtor works behind the scenes to keep all the different interests in a transaction on board and working toward closing, keeping tabs on mortgage companies, inspectors, tax authorities, other companies and agents who need to know about your property. This mountain of communication and record keeping is another way your Realtor serves you so you have less to worry about.

Diane Barkley's professional connections include

• Lake Whitney Chamber of Commerce
• National Association of Realtors
• Ellis Hill Association of Realtors
• Texas Association of Realtors

Email	254-580-5085 254-694-2241	Website