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Buyer Orientation Guide Seller Orientation Guide Buyer Orientation Guide Preparation Search Transaction www.RandRealty.com 1. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | RAND REALTY Buyer Orientation Guide | IntrO | Welcome Welcome The Rand Family Matthew Rand Joseph W. Rand Marsha Rand Managing Partner Managing Partner & General Counsel CEO Welcome to Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty hank you for giving us the opportunity to work with you on This Introduction to the Orientation the purchase of your home. We look forward to providing Guide provides you with you the services that have made Better Homes and Gardens information about Better Homes T and Gardens Rand Realty and your Rand Realty one of the largest real estate companies in the country and the leading brokerage in the region. real estate agent, and gives you a a general overview of the purchasing This Buyer Orientation Guide is our starting point for the delivery process. Next, Stage One covers of services to you throughout the process. You will be receiving your initial agent consultation, these guides throughout every stage of the purchasing process, and provides you with information from your initial consultation to your final closing. We’ve designed you need to start looking for your new home. We generally send the these Orientation Guides to help deliver a great service experience Orientation Guides as you enter to you, by helping you stay informed, engaged, and proactive each stage of the transaction, throughout the transaction. but if you would like them all in advance, just ask your agent. The Orientation Guides will have three purposes: We hope you get the chance to • First, to fully inform you about what you can expect about each read through the Orientation Guide stage of the transaction. before your appointment with your • Second, to let you know what your agent and Better Homes and agent. If you do not, don’t worry, your agent will cover everything in Gardens Rand Realty are doing to help you find the right home. your meeting. • Third, to also let you know what you can do at each stage so Again, we thank you for the that you are fully prepared for what is happening and what lies opportunity, and look forward to ahead. working with you. Buyer Orientation Guide | intrO | Introduction About Better Homes & Gardens Rand Realty When you buy your home, you don’t have to choose between the resources of a big company and the local expertise of a small neighborhood broker. Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty gives you the best of both worlds: a world-class real estate company that is one of the largest in the country and recognized as industry innovator, and a family-owned local business run by people who grew up here, live here, and are deeply committed to the communities we serve. “Big Company” Advantages “Small Company” Advantages When you buy your home with Better Homes and Gardens Rand When you buy with Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty, you Realty, you harness the power of one of the country’s largest and also get all the benefits of working with a small, family-owned, local most respected real estate companies, recognized by Real Estate broker deeply committed to the neighborhoods and communities we Magazine and REALTOR® Magazine as one of the top 75 real estate serve. Each of our offices functions as a neighborhood “boutique” brokerages in the country. Long recognized for its commitment broker, with its own manager directing operations and a group of to operational excellence, technological innovation, and market local agents who live in, work in, and know our communities. savvy, Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty provides you with a • Local Expertise: We know the nuances of our local markets comprehensive array of cutting-edge tools to help you find a home: better than anyone else: we know the schools, housing • Our proprietary Client-Oriented Real Estate (CORE) systems styles, history, local regulations, and everything else that that ensure operational excellence. can help smooth your transaction and find you the right home. That’s why we are the leading company in virtually • The innovative technology on RandRealty.com, providing every regional town and village where we operate. you with everything you need to search online on your computer or mobile device. • Buying Local: Just as you probably like to patronize locally- owned restaurants, shops, and other businesses, buying • Communication tools, including immediate email alerts with Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty gives you the when homes hit the market or drop their price. opportunity to support a local, family-owned company. You • Full transactional integration with our partners at Hudson can be secure that our partners, employees, and agents United, to take care of your mortgage, title, and insurance are just as committed to local businesses as you are, rather needs. than patronizing a company owned by people out-of-state, who don’t reinvest in our area. • On-demand lien searches through our title partner Hudson United Abstract, to ensure you do not get into contract on a • Commitment to Communities: The Rand owners have property that will not close. long been supporters of local charities, foundations, and community organizations, taking leadership positions • The best “Market Intelligence” in the industry, giving you a in organizations such as Hospice, People to People, the competitive advantage over other buyers by keeping you regional Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, and the informed about what’s happening in the real estate market. regional American Red Cross. And the hundreds of Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty agents and employees Finally, you get the sheer comfort of knowing that you are working support and contribute to myriad local causes throughout with the very best real estate professionals in the industry, dedicated the region. to ensuring a quality purchasing experience. When you get the power of a big company and the intimacy of a small company, you get the best of both worlds: the influence of a large, nationally recognized organization combined with the intimacy and local expertise of your neighborhood broker. Buyer Orientation Guide | intrO | CORE Introducing Client-Oriented Real Estate (CORE) Everyone promises good service. But what systems and tools do they have to ensure delivery on that promise? A great service experience requires more than just empty promises. You need a plan. t Better Homes and Gardens Rand consistent, and high-quality client 3. Information Realty, we have a plan for ensuring experience. At every stage of the buying process, we A that you have an outstanding home provide you with advice and guidance buying experience. For more than five about everything you need to know about years, we have made a commitment to How We Developed searching for a home, obtaining financing, creating systems, tools, and procedures negotiating offers, addressing inspection to ensure that our agents deliver a the CORE System issues, understanding sales contracts, consistently high service level to all of all the way to explaining your closing. our clients. Our proprietary client care We developed CORE by studying the cus- Because information is power, we also solution is called “Client-Oriented Real tomer service philosophies of great com- provide you with the most comprehensive panies like Nordstroms, Four Seasons Estate” (CORE), which is a structured, analysis of real estate market information hotels, Starbucks, and Disney, to find comprehensive, and rigorous system available in the industry – what we call our common elements that we could incor- designed to ensure that you have a great “Market Intelligence” reports. porate into the real estate industry. service experience buying your home, • Buyer Orientation Guides for every built around three primary goals: We also integrated the lessons gleaned part of the buying process from books like Ken Blanchard’s Raving • Buying Real Estate – Form Packets Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Cus- provide an explanation and bound 1. Execution tomer Service, William Capodagli’s The copy of the legally-required forms The foundation of the CORE system is Disney Way, Robert Spector’s The Nor- for your initial consultation. the “Buyer Project Plan,” which identifies dstrom Way to Customer Service Excel- Quarterly Market Reports that give lence, Danny Meyer’s Setting the Table, • and lists all the steps taken to find you you insight into the region, your and Atul Gawande’s The Checklist Mani- the right home. The Project Plan follows county, and your local market. industry best practices we’ve identified festo. after consulting with hundreds of real Plus, you’ll also be able to get up-to-date estate professionals. The plan helps information available on RandRealty.com, guarantee a great client experience by 2. Communication including our Market Intelligence Blog, ensuring that agents complete all the Great relationships require good Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate steps correctly with disciplined attention communication. You’ll see the CORE video content, and regular updates on to detail, and by reducing the possibility system difference at your initial changing market conditions. that any steps are missed. In the same consultation, which will not only provide way that pilots follow a “pre-flight plan” you with an overview of our company to make sure they don’t miss any steps services and marketing plan, but also Conclusion that might endanger their passengers, and identify your particular needs, concerns, At Better Homes and Gardens Rand surgeons follow a “safe surgery checklist” and goals. Our agents use our “Buyer Realty, we don’t just want to be the to reduce postoperative complications, Consultation Guide” when they have biggest real estate company. We want our project plans are designed to their initial meeting with buyer clients, to be the best real estate company.
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