Smarter + Successful San Francisco Selling
with Kevin+Jonathan

Success Begets Success: Why Sellers Pick Kevin+Jonathan

Dedicated. Hard-working. Enthusiastic. Media-Savvy. Design-Oriented. Warm. Sophisticated. Hands-On. And Much More... 

Those are some of the descriptors of our property listing services, but they are much more than words as they represent the sentiments of folks who entrusted their most valuable asset to us to sell.

Our loyal client base highlights the dedication we have to getting what's best for you — even if it's unclear on how we will get there. What should be clear is that we will work our very hardest for you. We will bring our considerable skills, experience and those of our brokerage to bear in our engagement.

We are great at what we do and we truly love what we do and we know you will to. And, what's more is that we're here for the long-run so if you're selling now or later we're here.

While each property is different, our general approach to selling will involve the following steps:

  1. Pre-listing & Coming Soon activities: Property evaluation, assessment, valuation, create marketing plan, implement
  2. Just Listed: broker-to-broker, media & advertising, and the MLS
  3. Open Houses: Personally hosted and publicized
  4. Navigating Escrow: Locking the best offer down to closing
  5. Post-Closing: where and what's next? 

Take a look at the general steps our clients go through in greater detail below:

When’s the Best Time?

Our market, despite the Pandemic’s disruptive impact, is still generally seasonal with our peaks being in May and again just after Labor Day...

historic data re new listings

The General Flow Chart of Getting to the Market.

Superior Selling Services (and Getting You the Best Buyers Possible)

Selling your property — often your most valuable asset — is something where you want full service that goes beyond the basics; that's what we offer.

Our service that is tailored to your needs and circumstances. We work with our clients to bring out their property's full potential while striking an optimal balance of investment and economy to attract the best possible buyers out there.  

We believe our approach is distinct from what other agents. As you’d guess, we believe we work harder than anyone we know, we fuss about the details and insist that we show off your property in the best light possible in order to attract the best possible buyers out there. We’re fastidious, driven and our seller services are turn-key, which will be very useful for you as you as you focus on the next home. We take the trust you place in us very seriously. 

We Tailor Our Approach to Every Property and Client with the Right Look, Touch and Feel 

We work our hardest to ensure our clients' properties are showcased and presented in the best possible light to attract top-dollar. We sit down and work with each seller to tailor and craft a marketing plan that is designed to showcase the seller's property in the best possible light. We create inspirational and aspirational spaces that appeal to the right buyer whether they're end-owner users, developers, or investors.

 

So How Have Our Sellers Done? See What Some Have to Say

Kevin and Jonathan believed the house could sell for more than the comparables in the area if we prepared the home as suggested. All their suggestions rang true, including a stager, which I was reluctant to spend money on. In the end’ our house sold for way more than I thought possible and way more than comparables in the area. It was the best looking house on the block. They did a great job from start to finish and clearly really love what they do.

— Karen M.

Attorney, Investment Property Seller

San Francisco-Daly City border

At $245,000 over asking and $441,000 over initial estimated sales price they knocked the sale of my husband’s condo out of this world. I wouldn’t be surprised if they set a sales price record for the area! Kevin and Jonathan are without a doubt the most amazing real estate duo we have ever met. 

— Patrick + Lydia Y.

Administrator + Author

Out-of-Area Sellers, Richmond District

Richmond District

Selling a house can be a long and intense process that can be frustrating at times but the results we got from Kevin and Jonathan’s patience, creativity and hard work beat our expectations by a long shot.

— Aaron + Ashley L.

Biotech + Tech

Noe Valley Buyers + Sellers

 

As a Seller, You Have a Rarer and Rarer Commodity That People Want And Will Pay For

San Francisco’s housing market values have held steady for the past umpteen years — single family homes, for example, have averaged a yearly growth rate of 6 to 7 percent.

Check Out Our Listings

Our Current and Recent Listings

TIMING CAN MAKE OR BREAK A LISTING'S SUCCESS

Why Timing Matters

THERE are still plenty of old school agents and clients in San Francisco.  Why does this matter?  Well, unlike agents who are plugged in 24/7 such as Kevin+Jonathan, many of these old-school agents tended to bring their listings on only at certain times of the year based on the calendar and people's traditional attention spans. Those times centered around the Super Bowl (no, really, what else are you going to do on a Sunday?), Tax Day (always sees a dip), the 4th of July (the summer slowdown really kicks in), Labor Day (when everyone is back from vacation) and the general slide down towards and through the holidays. Knowing when and how to debut your property is what our successful experience brings to the table in addition to many other skills and is something we will collaborate with you and your goals accordingly.

Monthly and Seasonal Inventory Patterns Sure, But Look at the Bigger Trend of Shrinking Inventory

 

One of Our Secret Weapons Has 4 Legs — Raffi McNarry-Ho

The Ultimate Puppy-Dog Closer

We want the space and experience to be memorable, heartwarming and aspirational. Setting our listings apart from others on the market is something we have some help on. No, it’s not freshly baked cookies but our third team member Mr. Raffi. He’s gentle, sweet and photogenic. A former Guide Dog trainee, Raffi draws agents to our listings and, because people want to say hi to him, folks spend more time at our open houses. 

Take a look at some of our listing photos featuring our clients' properties as Raffi models them for you. 

We Have People You Can Call — or we can help out

We have a stable of stagers, painters, craft and trades people and trusted vendors who help implement our tailored marketing plan and vision we propose for your property. If all fails, we've painted, built garden walls, change lighting fixtures and corrected inappropriate staging ourselves — we are very hand's on. We've painted before, we've changed light fixtures and landscaped. We're not the pros at these things of course but if push comes to shove we will make it work.

In any case, we work with our clients as we identify areas to improve and suggest who can do the work from our trusted vendor list. Plus, when possible, we pass along our trade discount to our clients so they get the most bang for the buck. Of course, we can give you our detailed checklist of what needs to be done if you have your own trusted folks too. 

 

The Preparation Process Examined

Initial Matters + Preparation

  • We will identify your goals, the salient selling points of your property, and what buyers are seeking and identity where your property fits
  • We will assess how much your property is worth "as-is" and what it might be worth with improvements, proper staging or more.
  • Each property we're invited to review will will receive a detailed written assessment of what changes we think that can be made to make the property so it is the most appealing to the current market mood
  • We will offer our perspective on what we can expect in terms of price, demand, and how to best maximize what we have and what we can do given our network, experience and resources
  • We will prepare a detailed to-do checklist, marketing approach that identifies the likeliest buyers and how we can reach them
  • We will provide references to professionals such as accountants, lawyers, contractors, stagers and more given our budget, timeline, and circumstances.

The Paperwork.

  • We will agree on the listing terms and price (the price in the agreement will likely vary from what our actual published price will be but we'll tell you why) we'll sign a standard listing agreement with each other (well between our brokerage and you). The agreement also lists the circumstances when a commission will be paid and how a buyer's agent will be paid. 
  • The Listing Agreement spells out our fiduciary duties to you which include loyalty, putting your interests above our own and presenting you any and all written offers. To us the Agreement's duties are just the start as we strive to go above and beyond  to protect and promote our clients' interests; to us it matters that you sell only if it's right for you and it might come to pass that it's not right now.
  • After this, we will begin working with you to get all necessary documents and disclosure materials ready which are not only required by state law but also serve as yet another channel in which we can communicate with any potential buyer — it's an opportunity most agents overlook but is one we have been recognized as excelling at. 
  • Statute-based obligations from California's Civil Code requires sellers to provide different types of information about a property and the sellers' ownership of it. This is the time when we sit down with our clients and really go over these materials as we not only want to have the best prepared buyers making offers but we also want to protect our clients from any future risk by failing to disclose.
painting icon

Prepping the Property

  • As we get the documents and the property ready, it's also the time to get pre-sale property inspections that are intended not only to inform you about the property (so as to make repairs if we need them) but also to inform would-be buyers too so that they take any issues into account when submitting an offer; better to front-load the process than have a surprise come up later.
  • Once we get started on our joint To-Do list we will be as involved or as detached as you like in implementation and execution — we tend to be more involved as there are lots of questions that our experience with buyers will help answer.
  • Why Investing in Your Property is Worth It: Preparing a property for sale is stressful even under the best of circumstances. In our case you must remember that there is a direct relationship between the amount invested in a property and its resulting sale price — typically it is an exponential one in San Francisco: the output tends to exceed the input. Conversely, you must remember that any dollar saved on property preparation in the short term will likely cost far more in a diminished sale price. In other words, $2,000 saved now doesn’t mean your sale price is reduced by $2,000 — it’s likely to be impacted far more detrimentally. Why? We want to elicit an emotional, visceral response from the right buyers — ones who are vested into a property by loving it and being educated about it. If a property fails to sell initially and a price reduction becomes necessary, any reduction will have to be attention-grabbing and can cost thousands of dollars. To reset our position on the MLS, for example, so our listing would get pushed up to be alongside other “new” listings a reduction has to be 5% or greater, which is more costly in the long run when combined with carrying costs.
  • Why Staging is Essential: Merchandising. Packaging. Atmospherics. All of these things go to explain the rationale behind why we stage and why our most successful sellers all stage their properties. Staging’s purpose is to wow and inspire someone into action. Hiring a gifted designer and stager to transform your vacant property may be expensive yes but it is an essential ingredient in showing people how they can live differently and better than they do now. To forgo staging will cost far more in a diminished sale price. A good stager’s art will capture and appeal to the best possible buyers on a visual, visceral and emotional level.

Prepping the Marketing and for Launch

  • We will work with you on the final touches for the property, including staging supervision, painting and prepping.
  • In the final stages before our market debut we will continue updating and refining our marketing plan as we implement it. Methods used: print media advertising, 'coming-soon' listings on Top Agent Network and other similar forums, inter-office advance promotions or plan an event or shoot Raffi listing video according to our marketing plan.
  • We will prepare top-quality collateral such as mailers, and paper statements and brochures along with professional photography to present your property as close to perfection as possible.
  • We will create a customized website to showcase your property as well as using commercially available resources to syndicate that information to as many people as possible. 
  • We'll also leverage our social and online media outlets, advertising and connections to generate buzz and disseminate awareness of your property
  • In addition, we will use all means possible appropriate to promote the property by using such outlets like events, television, feature articles, and sponsorships.
Open House Sign

Yep, We're Open!

  • The open house — it's tried and true. Be prepared for Saturdays, Sundays and other days of the week too. And we will need to have your property in showcase form as we only get one opportunity to debut on the market.
  • Broker Tours are on Tuesdays  or Wednesdays and are just as important as public open houses if not more so because this is the speed-dating of open houses for brokers with buyers.
  • Private showings and evening showings are going to be required for the most serious of buyers (or not)

It's Been Leading Up to This: Offer Time

  • The typical marketing cycle in San Francisco usually lasts about 2 – 3 weeks: two weekends of open houses, one or two broker tours and an offer date (the date offers are due from would-be buyers). Progress is tracked by how many disclosure packages buyer agents request.
  • There’s a chance a very motivated and/or strategic buyer sends in a preemptive offer before the offer deadline for a very popular and/or attractive property that’s underpriced or one that has that special “X” factor. Keep in mind that accepting an offer early means forgoing any other offers from any other buyer out there.
  • When an offer comes in (offer date or not) there are three options: accept, reject or counter. This is when the rubber hits the road, where the wheat gets sorted from the chaff and many other assorted metaphors. The negotiating process could be simple, it could be complex, it could be confusing. And while a lot of it could take place on the phone or over text, nothing sticks unless it’s in writing.   

Time for Escrow/Getting It Closed Up

  • Assuming, we'll accept offers and pick the best one(s) and accept one and potentially putting one or more offers in back-up positions. And, after that and before you know it... 
  • We're in escrow! 
  • Navigating the escrow process may be as stressful (and in some cases more stressful) than preparing the property or even negotiating the winning purchase contract. Different forces and factors beyond anyone's control could (and most likely will) add some kind of complexity, delay and surprise to our transaction. Such causes can range from anything like an overly zealous inspector, a buyer's lender's lethargy, HOA issues, to just plain ol' cold feet. In these cases we tell our clients that we've seen it all before and are able to handle it successfully (and if not, someone in our brokerage has) so that we close the sale successfully.
  • But it's our approach that a good defense often means having a good offense. We attempt to educate all potential buyers about a property before anyone makes an offer so that there are no surprises during escrow — or, if there are any they are fewer or less stressful.  We do this by working with our sellers to have the best possible disclosure documents that are truly informative, clear and understandable.

And Here We Are: Closing Time!

  • Anywhere from 5 to the more common 22nd day after a buyer's offer was accepted we're set to close the sale, which is what this is all about anyway, right? 
  • At this point the escrow company should have coordinated a payoff demand from any mortgage holder, any staging has been removed, a complete set of disclosure documents should have been signed by all the buyers, staging is removed and documents signed (including the all important deed transfer document).
  • After the buyer's funds are into the escrow company, after deed transfer documents are signed and after any mortgage and tax payoff amounts are determined our escrow officer we will move to the final closing (unlike other jurisdictions, the parties rarely meet face-to-face) which is really anticlimactic because it really boils down to a messenger getting a document stamped at the County Recorder's office and funds being wired here and there. But never you mind.
  • After we record the title transfer and keys are handed over is when we can all take a victory lap. You'll get your sale proceeds (we hope) within hours of our close of escrow from the title company.
  • If we're going on to purchase another property we can start in earnest. No matter what you do, expect a thank you present and follow-up with us over time as questions may pop-up, but more importantly, it's nice for us to see how well things will be going for you and yours as this process is one that invariably draws people together and closer.

A WORD FROM OUR CLIENTS:

We were very happy with Kevin as our buying agent when we bought our Noe Valley house. We got a great house in a great neighborhood and we weren't even the highest bidders at the time.

When it came time to sell, however, we didn't know how it would go with Kevin and Jonathan because we only worked with them as buying agents. But as soon as we told them we wanted to sell our house they started working on it right away even though our sale was 5 months away. They worked with us, our constraints and schedules to come up with plans, options and directions on how to make the house even more appealing.

We were skeptical at some of the suggestions at first and their insistence that we go to market because we had unsolicited offers that were very tempting. We chose to go ahead and place our faith in Kevin and Jonathan and we're glad that we did. They took care of issues that came up (like the stager's weird choices the first day they were there) and went out of their way by doing things like talking with us about questions we had late into the night, getting supplies for the house and giving us their opinions and advice on how to complete disclosure materials. Kevin and Jonathan were engaged with us and selling our home every day, which helped the process tremendously.

Kevin and Jonathan's work ethic and dedication is bolstered by their sense of design and style. They turned our charming home into a sophisticated and elegant house you'd see in a catalog.

Selling a house can be a long and intense process that can be frustrating at times but the results we got from Kevin and Jonathan's patience, creativity and hard work beat our expectations by a long shot.  

 
 
 — Aaron and Ashley L., Sellers
1617 Church Street  
Parents, Happy Dog Owners, Biotech and startup
Bought Noe Valley home in 2013 for $1.26M and sold in 2015 for $1.705M ($200,000 above expectations)
 
 

Success Story: Your Agent Knows Best, Right? 

Going Way Above and Beyond in Noe Valley in Just 2 Years

Some Client Successes . . .

More on Preparation.

“I’ve been in the business for 30 years and I’ve never seen disclosure documents better than yours.”

 — Eastbay Buyer’s Agent

 

On Full Disclosure... Disclosures that is.

California’s Civil Code places an affirmative obligation on sellers to disclose property conditions that may materially impact a buyer’s purchase decision.If done properly, standard California disclosures are tantamount to a property’s life story — at least to the seller’s best abilities. What does this mean for you? How best do you comply? Ask Kevin+Jonathan to learn more as this can play a key part of any transaction.

California’s Civil Code places an affirmative obligation on sellers to disclose property conditions that may materially impact a buyer’s purchase decision. If done properly, standard California disclosures are tantamount to a property’s life story — at least to the seller’s best abilities.

Buyers will be strongly advised to conduct investigations to their own satisfaction before proceeding with the purchase. Along with the preliminary title report our completion of standardized disclosures should give buyers an extremely accurate — if not overly involved — snapshot of the property you are about to sell.

Certain disclosures may become important to appraisers, lenders, and general contractors who are planning on doing some work on the property before or after escrow closes.

The Disclosures That Need to be Completed:

(click on each to see more)

The TDS (Not, TPS, but the Transfer Disclosure Statement)

Transfer disclosure statement and supplement to the transfer disclosure statement (if necessary). These two documents are to be completed by the seller himself/herself or trustee. These forms ask series of questions about the amenities and features of the property and also ask the seller to indicate any defects or broken items. These documents also ask the seller to list any construction work, additions, or any other issues from the neighborhood like planned construction, rehabilitation, etc. that impacts the property materially.

Agent Visual Inspections

Agent Inspections. Both agents are obliged to perform a reasonably competent and diligent visual inspection of the accessible areas of the property. This inspection and subsequent report should not be viewed as a marketing tool. Rather, agents should disclose — in very clinical terms — any defect, condition, or observation that informs the buyer of the condition of the property being purchased without attributing any cause or judgment —just the facts ma’am.

Naturally, there are Natural Hazards

Natural hazards disclosures augment these disclosures for such items as gas lines,  previous industrial uses, asbestos, area ground contamination, and other information such as property tax and assessment obligations and overhead airplane paths for example. And, naturally, San Francisco has its own set of disclosures that augment all of these. These disclosures may well advise buyers to: check the rental situation of property, expect notice of certain TIC issues, and to ensure certain water and energy conservation measures that the seller must complete before escrow closes. Typically, sellers should have these types of documents ready before property comes to market. This way prospective buyers can assess the property before making an offer. When we’re asked for them think about it as someone asking for you number.  Making early and affirmative disclosures the extent we do here is rare elsewhere in the country. Consider yourself warned!  Full disclosure is best.

Some Required & Common Disclosures:

  • Real estate agency relationship disclosures
  • Real estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS)/ Supplement to TDS
  • Lead–based paint prior use alert/notice
  • Area Man-made & Natural Hazards
  • Smoke/CO Detector requirement
  • SF Energy & Water Conservation Certification
  • Building permit history (”3R”)
  • Market conditions advisory
  • Earthquake Hazards Advisory
  • Tenant Questionnaire Responses
  • Condominium Disclosures & Governing Documents
  • TIC Disclosure & Purchase Addendum & Agreements
  •  Preliminary Title Report
  •  Supplemental Property Tax Notice
  •  Short/REO/Probate/Trust Sales
  • Tenant information forms/Leases
  • Parking Information

The preceding information is made in a general nature only. Please note that your property, circumstances and situation can and will vary. Vanguard Properties, Kevin Ho and Jonathan McNarry believe the information presented here is accurate but no warranty, express or implied, is made. Ask us for details. 

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