David Zabarte

This is a copy of the letter I wrote Simon & David for the outstanding job they did in representing my wife and me in selling our house in Concord:Thank you very much for what I consider one of the best jobs of representing a client I have seen in my 35 year real estate career.When my wife and I told friends and family that we were selling our house, they knew I was an experienced real estate professional who has done literally thousands of deals in my career. Many asked if I was going to list our own house."No," I explained, "Even though I am a licensed real estate broker, selling houses is not my expertise so instead I am hiring the best local professional I can find.".I could tell from the facial expression on many of their faces that they didn't understand. Like many people, they viewed paying a commission a big dollar outlay that should be minimized. I don't look at that way at all. My perspective is totally different: whom do you want working for you: some discount brokerage guy who works in an office cube hundreds of miles away or a local expert who understands the nuances of your market? I often wonder if the guys who pick the discount broker also bid out their surgery and go with the cheapest surgeon.After living in my house in the East Bay for sixteen years, I knew first hand picking local experts made a huge difference as I had observed some of my former neighbors who were moving selected their aunt or former Little League coach as their real estate agents and then, in my opinion, left tens of thousands of dollars on the table when they sold the house because that particular agent, although triple nice, didn't understand the subtlety of selling houses in our particular subdivision. I am pretty sure these agents analyzed the market by lumping all the houses in a given zip code together and compare one to another. This is Zillow's approach and it can yield very misleading results. While that approach might work some places, it was not an accurate way to evaluate pricing iin our sub-market.I wanted a knowledgable local real expert but I struggled finding the right team of agents to hire.I considered the high volume agents but in looking at their history of sales, I concluded that the reason they did so much business was because they under-priced the property. They committed what I consider one of the cardinal sins of client representation: doing what's easy for them instead of what's right for the client. In short, these high volume agent teams were as bad getting the best price and terms as the zip code lumping agents.I was really floundering with my selection as our move date approached. Finally, I asked of my former associates with whom I used to work who had sold his house and moved out of the area. He was an experienced real estate professional, but, like me, in the commercial/industrial field. He knew good real estate people nonetheless so I valued his opinion. His answer on whom I should talk to was surprising: not the guys who represented him but the team who represented his Buyer. This team, of course, was you!He was very impressed by your knowledge of the local market, your ability to negotiate, your thorough preparation, and your follow-through. At the end of our successful transaction, I felt the same way.On our particular deal, what really impressed me was how you represented us. When we agreed out our listing price which we both thought was a bit of a stretch on the top end of the market, it would have been easy for you to sell our house for the listing price. My wife and I would have been happy with that result. However, you coaxed a significantly higher offer from one of your colleagues in your own office that was so much higher that you not only paid for your share of the commission, you put extra money in our pocket. In other words, if I had listed the my own house and sold it myself, I would have been worse off financially than having used your team. Wow! In summary, if you want to get the team of the best local professionals in the East Bay, you can't do better than David Zabarte and Simon Watson. They will work hard on your behalf to get you the best result possible when selling or buying property.SHORT VERSION RECOMMENDATION:David & Simon got us the second highest price ever on a comparable house in our subdivision. They coached us through the process from beginning to end, culminating in a well qualified offer and a fast sale. Sure, discount brokers charge less but you literally get what you pay for. It's like the old saying: "if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys." The price that David & Simon secured for us was well above listing and more than paid for their share of the commission. The dollar savings by using David & Simon versus a discount broker is enough to buy a brand new car! Thank you, David & Simon!