PROGRESS — R EAL E STATE
IN THE
S IUSLAW | SATURDAY, JULY 6, 2019 | 5C
‘Home-grown company’ brings hometown knowledge
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
TR Hunter Real Estate is
pleased to provide a full array of
services to clients, but the brokers
there bring something extra to the
table: hometown knowledge. TR
Hunter is an independent locally
owned business that has grown
over the years because of the fo-
cus that management and agents
bring to meeting the specific
needs of each and every client.
This focus on listening closely
to the preferences and hopes of
home buyers has translated into a
business model where the clients’
wishes are of foremost impor-
tance.
Tim Sapp, the owner and
principal broker at TR Hunter,
founded the company more than
25 years ago. He is a decorated
veteran well-known and respect-
ed in the community. His ser-
vice during the Vietnam conflict
earned him numerous citations
and has helped to shape his ap-
proach to working with clients
from all age groups and economic
circumstances.
“We started back in 1995 and
have been going ever since,” he
said. “We real-
ly enjoy helping
people and all of
the agents that
work here are like
a big family. We
are a home-grown
company; we ar-
en’t a national af-
filiate or anything
like that.”
Sapp has always
operated with the
simple idea of of-
fering to help peo-
ple find the home
that is best suited
for them and to make what will
probably be the most important
purchase of their lives as easy as
possible.
All of the agents who work with
Sapp are concerned with making
sure clients get the home that is
best suited to their individual
needs. The team assembled at TR
Hunter is much like a family, par-
tially because Sapp has included
his own family in the business, as
the real estate firm has grown over
the years.
“My daughter Ginger works
here,” Sapp said. “She started as an
assistant manager and over time
moved into the office manager
position. Now, my daughter Wen-
dy just got her real estate license.
She recently moved here from
back east, and now she is selling
real estate. My daughter-in-law
also recently got her license, and
we have some agents that have
been here since the beginning, so
it really is kind of like a family af-
fair.”
One of the advantages of having
been involved in local real estate
for more than a quarter century
is the knowledge and experience
Sapp, and by extension his bro-
kers, bring to the process of buy-
ing or selling a
home.
“I was one of
the first agents to
use a computer
for my business
and the internet
definitely changed
things in a funda-
mental way,” Sapp
said. “Now people
are always looking
online to see what
new listings have
become available
in our area.”
Sapp is also ap-
preciative of the efforts made by
the city to increase the number of
dwellings that will become avail-
able in the future for home buyers.
“I can’t say enough good things
about our city. They’ve been try-
ing to adjust regulations and they
have rules to follow, but they have
been trying to change those to
make it more desirable to build in
town,” he said.
Overall Sapp’s assessment of the
current state of the housing mar-
ket in Florence is positive.
“The market is very active at
this time, especially the residen-
tial market, and things are going
good in the commercial market
to,” he said. “There are quite a few
options available to buyers right
now, and the rates are really good,
below 4 percent, and that helps to
generate activity.”
Another way TR Hunter engag-
es with the community is by being
a corporate underwriter for the
Florence Area Chamber of Com-
merce.
“That’s a benefit, because in a
small town like this, so much of
our business is referral business,”
Sapp said. “The people you know
and the people from the differ-
ent organizations you belong to,
these people will just call you up
because they like the way you do
business. That’s what we count on
for a lot of our new business.”
While things will continue to
shift in Florence’s housing market,
the changing nature of the real
estate business is not new for the
staff at TR Hunter. Sapp has a sim-
ple plan to address those changes.
“One of the things I’ve learned
over the years is you just have to
adjust when things change, you
have to listen to what people want
and then you do your best to help
them find just the right home for
them,” he said.
Tips for buying a home in a seller’s market
The real estate market
can be difficult to navigate
for both buyers and sellers.
First-time buyers can eas-
ily become overwhelmed
as they search for homes,
while sellers hoping to
get the best price for their
homes might be frustrated
if offers are slow to come in
or fall short of their asking
prices.
If met with an under-
whelming market, many
sellers can pull their homes
off the market and wait un-
til it becomes more advan-
tageous to sell. But buyers,
particularly those shopping
in a seller’s market, may not
have that flexibility.
Buying in a seller’s mar-
ket can be competitive and
frustrating, but buyers can
employ various strategies
to survive such markets
and land the homes of their
dreams.
• Get mortgage preap-
proval. Sellers’ markets typ-
ically feature low inventory,
which can make the buying
process very competitive.
Prospective buyers who
do not have a mortgage
preapproval letter in hand
when making offers may
find themselves losing out
on their dream homes to
fellow buyers who have
gotten preapproval from a
lending institution. Sellers
may be impatient with buy-
ers who have not yet been
preapproved for a mort-
gage, even accepting a less-
er offer from buyers who
are ready to begin transac-
tions immediately.
The preapproval process
is relatively quick and sim-
ple, so buyers should not
hesitate to apply.
• Stick to your budget.
Lenders will indicate to pro-
spective buyers how much
they’re willing to lend them,
and that figure is typical-
ly considerably more than
buyers are willing to bor-
row. In a seller’s market,
bidding wars can quickly
drive up prices, but buyers
should stick to their budgets
so they are not house poor
after buying. Sticking to a
budget can be difficult in a
seller’s market, but such pa-
tience will likely pay off in
the long run.
• Be ready to compromise.
Unless they have unlimited
budgets, buyers often must
compromise when purchas-
ing a home. That’s especially
true in a seller’s market with
limited inventory. Buyers
who need to buy a home
must identify their needs
versus their wants and rec-
ognize the likelihood that
they will have to compro-
mise.
• Work with real estate
agents. Some buyers may
be tempted to go it alone,
searching for and ultimately
buying homes without the
help of real estate agents.
That can be a foolish move
in a seller’s
market where
c o mp e t i t i o n
is high and
inventory
quickly disap-
pears from the
market. Veter-
an real estate
agents
have
worked in buy-
ers’ and sellers’
markets, and
buyers can use
that
experi-
ence to their
advantage.
In addition,
real
estate
agents likely
have
access
to inventory before homes
appear on popular real es-
tate websites, giving buyers
working with them a leg up
in competitive markets.
Buying a home in a seller’s
market can be fast-moving
and very competitive. But
various strategies can ensure
buyers still find great homes
at great prices in such mar-
kets.
How agents and sellers can work together
Selling a home can be
stressful. Despite this, 5.51
million existing U.S. homes
were sold in 2017, according
to data from the National
Association of Realtors. In
many cases, homeowners
choose to work with real
estate agents to facilitate the
process of listing, showing
and selling their homes.
Real estate agents are
valuable assets. Agents
have neighborhood knowl-
edge, are educated in pric-
ing trends, can filter phone
calls or emails from buyers
who aren’t serious, and can
organize all of the people
necessary for a closing. Real
estate agents provide many
services that the average
person may not have the
time nor the experience to
handle.
There are many qualified
agents, but an agent cannot
do his or her job well with-
out some help on the part
of the homeowner. These
tips can make the process of
selling a home go smoothly.
• Price the home cor-
rectly. Homeowners should
COAST REAL ESTATE
Tim Sapp
Principal Broker
541-999-8230
Richard Beaudro
Principal Broker
541-991-6677
Melody Beaudro
Principal Broker
541-991-2151
Amy Johnson
Broker
541-999-7875
Alva Bracey, Broker
Willamette Valley
Central Coast
and beyond
541-505-1180 Text or Call
541-997-7777 Offi ce
800-999-5343 Toll Free
541-997-7159 Fax
Alva@CBCoast.com
100 Hwy. 101
POB C
Florence, OR 97439
http://www.cbcoast.com/alva-bracey
Each Offi ce is independently Owned and Operated.
Hailey
y Miles
Brian Jagoe
Principal Broker
541-999-1314
Jan Jagoe
Broker
541-999-0879
Ed Kopilec
Principal Broker
541-991-8630
Broker
Hailey Miles
Broker
541-999-9555
Cell 5 41.999.9555
5
H ailey@ TRH unter.com
Office 541.997.1200
1749 Hwy 101 • PO Box 3104
Florence, OR 97439
www.trhunter.com
Aileen Sapp
Broker
541-999-5396
Mike Blankenship
Broker
541-991-7826
Crystell Wise
Broker
541-991-9487
Wendy Krause
Broker
541-999-7765
Coldwell Banker Coast Real Estate
541-997-7777
www.cbcoast.com
Wanda Johnson
Broker
wanda@cbcoast.com
100 Hwy. 101
PO Box C
Florence, Oregon 97439
CELL: 541-999-1670
FAX: 541-997-7159
trust the agent’s ability to
price a home for the market.
Everyone wants to get the
most money possible, but
listing the home for more
than it’s worth may cause it
to sit unnecessarily for sev-
eral weeks or months, which
could raise red flags among
potential buyers.
• Market the home. A
real estate agent will list the
home via a multiple listing
service (MLS) on a private
website, in newspapers and
wherever else he or she feels
is pertinent. Homeown-
ers can share the listing via
social media and word of
mouth to help increase the
chances of selling the home.
• Be available. Limiting
the time an agent can show
the house to potential buy-
ers is in no one’s best inter-
est. Sellers should be ready
and willing to open their
homes, which is the best
way to make a sale. An agent
may suggest a lock box so
the home can be shown
when homeowners are not
on the property.
• Make suggested renova-
tions. Agents know which
features can make or break a
sale. Homeowners should be
amenable to certain sugges-
tions, such as neutral paint
colors, removing personal
effects and clearing clutter.
• Give recommendations.
Real estate is a commis-
sion-based industry. Agents
often tirelessly put in hours
and only reap rewards if the
house is sold. A homeown-
er who was satisfied with an
agent can then recommend
that person to friends or
family.
By working with real es-
tate professionals, home-
owners can sell their homes
quickly.