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Julie Szekely
"I don?t think a person can really appreciate having a great real estate agent until you?ve had a bad one. I sold my house out of state before marrying and moving to Austin, and the experience was horrible, stressful, and nerve-racking. Selling our house with Sheila Fontenot was a walk in the park, she earned every penny of her commission. I?d say her only defect was she almost made it look too easy, which doesn?t help her be appreciated enough.
Our 1st interview was with an agent from a large agency where many people would be part of the process. The cost for this team? $20 to $30K less on the value of our house. When we interviewed Sheila Fontenot, an independent agent, she?d really done her homework. She quoted AND delivered a much higher sales price. She knew our neighborhood like the back of her hand. When looking at comparable listings she told us off the top of her head who built the houses, how their construction differed from ours, and what the interior condition and previous sale price was of many of the houses so we could tell how ours really compared.
The agent from the larger agency showed us statistics for their agency?s house sales the *first time around*. Sheila said if she didn?t have confidence she could sell our house in less than 6 months, then she had no business taking our listing at all. Our house sold in half a day, for $30K more than the larger agency told us it was worth.
A few days later a house down the street reduced their price in hopes of being sold. What made the difference? Hiring a great agent is not enough. You have to be willing to follow ALL of their advice and make all the changes they suggest. And you won?t follow their advice if you don?t trust them. And you shouldn?t trust them unless they show a high sense of integrity, ethics, knowledge, and years of experience to make their advice worth following. That is what we found in Sheila. Our trust was further reinforced by the numerous un-requested recommendations from neighbors and friends with the repeated admonition, ?Only if you do EVERYTHING she tells you, will you sell your house fast, and at a great price.?
Sheila didn?t just tell us what we needed to do to our house to get it ready for sale, she helped us get it done. Sheila works with a close team of contractors who are extremely top-notch and very fairly priced. While she doesn?t get kick-backs for recommending them, they know that if we aren?t extremely pleased with their work, she won?t recommend them anymore, and they will lose a strong line of business. And please-us they really did.
We told Sheila we wanted the best price for our house, with the least amount of stress possible, and that is exactly what she gave us. As with any house purchase, there were bumps along the way during the negotiation of the contract and the inspection process. We found out about most of them only after Sheila resolved them on our behalf and in our favor. She was amazing. She anticipated and therefore headed off many issues before they even could become problems. This is where her experience, knowledge, and high sense of ethics really shined.
Hands down, I would hire Sheila Fontenot again in a heartbeat, and highly recommend her to others. She is a feather in anyone?s hat. She helped us see that selling a house doesn?t have to be horrible, stressful and nerve-racking. It really can be a walk in the park. Thank you Sheila!"
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Gary & Jan Melara
"We interviewed several Realtors before listing our house. From the beginning, Sheila stood out from the crowd. She dropped off a very useful informational packet even before visiting with us. Within days of signing the listing agreement, she had thirty real estate agents touring our home, elegant brochures and fact sheets available to prospective buyers, and ads on multiple internet sites. All this was wonderful, but Sheila?s real value was revealed after we accepted an offer on our property. Her professionalism and experience guided us through several very difficult negotiations. Sheila was so available and responsive throughout the entire sales process that we felt as if we were her only clients. We heartily recommend her to anyone selling a home."
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Melinda & Steve
"After deciding to sell our home we interviewed a realtor. That realtor was Sheila Fontenot. After one meeting, we knew she was the one. We feel the main reason our home sold so quickly was primarily because of Sheila. Her professionalism impressed us. She was prompt, thorough, and exceptionally organized. She turored us on the ins and outs of selling and buying and in her free time even entertained our son during moments of tension. She has become a part of our family and we feel that our interests and desires have always been her main concern. She truly cares for her clients."
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Bob & Mary Gontarek
"Mrs. Fontenot represented us in the buying of our present home and also listed our previous home. Even though our requirements were unique and constricting she brought us to a house that fully met our needs. Her professionalism, attention to detail, high ethical standards and commitment to making it a win-win situation for everyone made it easy for us to put our trust in her good judgement. We would not hesitate to recommend her to any of our friends."
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