by Chuck Lech, manager   Dilbeck Real Estate Westlake Village

March 12, 2017

I spent the first 25 years of my working life as a professional buyer.  In dollar terms, I was responsible for spending $250 million a year.  By most standards, that’s a lot.

When you work for a company, they expect good value for their dollar, and that places a lot of pressure on their buyers.  When you spend that much money, you have no shortage of salespeople trying to get your business, you have many from which to choose.

There is a process buyers go through as they grow into the job of being a professional buyer.  At first, they get three quotes and choose the lowest price.  That is what an amateur does.

As they gain more experience, they begin to see that it may not be wise to always choose to do business with whoever has the cheapest price.  Perhaps the most famous quote was by John Glenn: “As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind – every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.”

The more important the expenditure, the more important it is to choose someone who will not fail, someone who will do a consistently good job.

As professional buyers grow into the job, they begin to realize that they do not set the price, the market does.  They wisely change their focus to not who has the lowest price, but who has the best value for the price paid.  Professional buyers realize that it is not just the money you pay, but the quality and service and reliability you receive.

One of the most important financial decisions you make is the purchase or sale of your home.  For many of us, it is our best performing and most important asset.

There are many things that can go wrong by not carefully choosing the right professional real estate person.  The right professional will get you the highest price with the least amount of problems, will expose your home in all possible marketing outlets, will expose your home to the highest number of potential buyers, will help negotiate the best price to give you the highest net return, and will work throughout the process to insure that your interests are foremost.

Do problems occur?  Of course.  This is a very large transaction with many problems to negotiate as you head towards the close of escrow.

Not all us look at things the same way.  Some will hire the cheapest painter and live with those paint splatters.  Some will get their haircuts with whoever charges the lowest price.  Some will buy the cheapest car because it is the cheapest car.  Some will buy the cheapest insurance without regard to what happens when you do have to file a claim.  Even with some of the most important decisions we reach, we have choices.  Most charge about the same, but are they all as good?  I remember a famous quote in the “Ask Ann Landers” column years ago, “Shop carefully.  50% of all doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class.”  Why not get the best?

At Dilbeck Estates, you will work with a professional that looks out for your interest, that is highly trained and thoroughly supported by other in-house professionals to insure your experience is as good as it gets.