Buyer Rating:
My wife and I have been living in Waldorf for about two years now and were renting an apartment at the time when we decided to look for a more permanent living arrangement. Back in May/June of 2022 we began looking at homes online, through the Zillow app, and various local Charles County realtor website listings. As a result we contacted a realtor whose name we saw repeatedly. To avoid making slanderous claims and defamatory remarks, this initial agent we contact shall remain nameless. This person we contacted was very fast paced, talked quickly, used terminology that she may have bene familiar with, but as first time home buyers we were not. Additionally any questions we had, no matter how complex or trivial they may have been, were met with a hasty and slightly rude tone. This person was a prominent realtor in the area, at least we assumed so based on the sheer number of listings and references to her and her official place of business. This left us with a rather unsettling feeling and as a result we totally abandoned the idea of looking for a home or townhome as we assumed any realtor would ultimately only be interested in hitting a quota and getting listings sold.
By the time August rolled around we realized we needed to upgrade our living situation and based on our financial stance, the "market" and the fact that rent would be a major increase to move into an appropriately sized unit for our growing family, we decided to re-enter the housing search and decided to look for a single family detached home. This time we contacted our Credit Union and began the formal process of starting the home buying process. Through Navy Federal Credit Union we were introduced to Mrs. Theresa Shoptaw, and she became our sole realtor and person of contact with regards to the home buying situation. During the initial phase of our contact she clearly helped us identify what we wanted and the price range we were able to afford. She was very patient with us and helped to explain all the questions we had, which included a hefty amount of background knowledge, as neither my wife nor myself had any idea the home buying process was so long and arduous. She was instrumental in her ability to bring us up to speed on the terms and conditions associated with home buying, the intricacies of loans and mortgage payments, closing related expenses and processes and the many facets of home buying, to include actual physical touring of the homes.
During this time, which ended up being a period of about 2 months, we felt as if we were her only clients. That is the intimate and personal level of attention and care we received from her during our home buying process. Of course I am sure she had other clients, however she was always available to meet us, phone calls and was fast and concise at responding to emails, questions and the exchange of electronically signed and verified documents. We weren't exactly easy clients to have either. My wife and I had very specific characteristics and an even more specific area we wanted to live in. The neighborhood(s) we wanted were close to my work, church and the various stores we go to (groceries, clothes, things for our baby, etc.) so for her to be able to consistently stay right in the designated preferences we had was amazing. It was a stressful process in general, not because of her but because the market was tough, people were actively making offers on houses we wanted and it was competitive, not to mention interest rate hikes that also seemed to fuel the increased buying activity. Through all of this she remained calm and dedicated to helping us find exactly what we were looking for, with no compromises. Again, this was a stressful process, we had multiple offers not get selected, and some that were out right rejected. As you can imagine this added a great deal of stress to our life because the end date of our apartment lease contract was rapidly approaching.
Once we finally had an offer
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Nicholas And Glicyl Farn
October 2022