SELLER BROCHURE
MEGAN CAMPBELL BARNITZ REALTOR ®
773.544.9471 mobile meganbarnitz@atproperties.com
meganbarnitzrealestate meganbarnitzrealestate
REALTOR ® Megan Campbell Barnitz is a Top Producing agent, having generated over $150 million in real estate purchase and sale transactions during her 18 year real estate career. Megan’s buyer, seller, and investor clients benefit from her aggressive, tactful approach, and enjoy getting the best and smoothest deal possible, from contract to close. Before starting her career in real estate, Megan worked as a Senior Executive Rep in pharmaceutical sales for Merck for five years, after graduating Pre-Med with a degree in Business, from Winona State University. Megan’s experience at Merck gives her the skills to be a top-notch marketing specialist, as well as a strong and effective negotiator. Having grown up and lived in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, as well as the city of Chicago, Megan has a fondness for and an understanding of what these areas have to offer. As a wife and mother, Megan is empathetic to how emotional the decision can be to buy or sell a home. She understands when working with her clients that it is not only a home, but a lifestyle that home offers, that are equally important. Schools, parks and recreation turn a neighborhood into a community. Megan Barnitz supports the local schools and communities through her many sponsorships because she believes it is important to give back. Utilizing her expertise with technology and relying on her personal and professional experience, Megan easily covers a large market area because she consistently communicates with her clients to gain trust and provides the best guidance during the home buying or selling process. Megan shares with her clients her heartfelt insights into what makes a house a home and a neighborhood a community, and will help you find the home where your heart is.
RECENT SALES
BUY SIDE LIST SIDE
proven results
98.3% average sold to list price *
17 average days on market *
$ 150 million+ closed volume *
350+ total transactions *
*MRED, LLC, based on closed sales data for Megan Barnitz, 01/01/2003-07/19/2021.
“ Megan is professional, attentive, and very experienced. Her vast knowledge makes the buyer and selling process extremely stress- free and smooth. She will listen to your needs and do everything she can to find you the house of your dreams! J. “ Out of all the “professionals” we’ve had to deal with during our relocation we can easily say that Megan was truly a professional in every sense of the word. Megan brought knowledge of the areas in which we were looking to buy, insightful suggestions, and genuinely cared for our family through a horribly mismanaged relocation. I would gladly recommend Megan as an agent to anyone I know including personal family like my grandma because I know Megan would treat her with the same tender care she showed our family. My pregnant wife decided that the first real estate agent we hired needed to be fired (rightfully so too), then we had the great fortune to have Megan come into our lives. Megan kept our best interests in mind and demonstrated time and time again how she was always graciously available to serve our emotional and personal needs during this transition. Sincerely, if there is an award for customer service offered, Megan deserves the win hands down. If there isn’t one, you might consider making a Customer Satisfaction focused award and naming it after her, she is seriously that good. W.M. “ We have both bought and sold a house with Megan. We found her knowledge of the town, the industry, and buyers’/sellers’ typical behavior to be very helpful in navigating the seemingly never ending process of buying and selling a house. She was great at pointing out things we might like or not like when looking for a house. As first-time buyers, there were things we hadn’t even considered until she mentioned them. When selling a house, she gave great advice on how to attract buyers. She continued to coach us through the, in our case, very frustrating negotiations with the buyers. We also appreciated Megan’s tact, truthfulness, and patience. We would recommend Megan to help you buy or sell a house without hesitation! C.
TESTIMONIALS FROM HOME BUYERS
“ Megan was a pleasure to work with throughout a long and sometimes difficult process. Her patience, responsiveness and proactive follow up helped significantly reduce the stress of buying a home. Megan was as much our agent as she was our counselor, friend and expert. We are so thankful we had the opportunity to work with Megan! I. “ Megan made my first time home buying experience painless. Very knowledgeable and a straight shooter. She was a strong advocate for me and my needs. I highly recommend her! K. “ I highly recommend Megan Campbell Barnitz as a REALTOR® for current or prospective homeowners looking to find their dream home. Not only is Megan an outstanding communicator , but she will spend significant time upfront to understand your future home wants and needs. Her inquisitive and responsive nature will result in a home that not only meets your financial needs, but a home that satisfies your homeowner dreams. If you are looking for an intelligent, driven and results-oriented REALTOR® - Look no further than Megan Barnitz! A.B. “ Megan was our REALTOR® when we sold our home and bought a home. She was excellent! Megan understood our needs and our budget when we purchased a home. She communicated very well and was always available to answer questions. Megan provided a lot of recommendations when getting our house ready to sell. Her recommendations were thoughtful and realistic. Once again, she communicated very well concerning the feedback on the house. She represented us very well as both sellers and buyers. We would highly recommend Megan to anyone looking to buy or sell a home. D.
MARKETING ACTION PLAN
We pride ourselves on our level of customer service, communication and expertise in regard to the sale of your home. We work hard to educate you, not only on the market, but also the home selling “process”, as you are, in fact, in the driver’s seat in the transaction. Working with the Megan Barnitz Group provides you with a real estate expert that will work with you side-by-side throughout this process. From negotiating offers to sitting at the closing table, your experience, we hope, will result in you feeling your transaction was seamless from start to finish. Staging In our initial meetings we go over any staging needs your home may have. Our suggestions are merely that, suggestions based on years of experience and knowing what a buyer is looking for in the current market. Paint, new or cleaned carpet and a professional cleaning are always the best way to start, but we will go over a specific plan for your home and budget in one of our staging meetings. Should you need staging help with existing furniture, we are an accredited Staging Consultants and as part of our listing agreement, we will schedule a staging consultation and make sure flow and presentation is spot on to attract as many buyers as possible. Should you need advice on renting staged furniture, we can coordinate with our staging partners to ensure your home is show ready. Please note additional cost will be incurred. Professional High-Definition Resolution Photography I n today’s real estate market, it is so important to make a good first impression. Therefore, activating your home’s listing, complete with photos, 3Dtours, videos and floor plans, is essential. Yard Signs Every listing gets it’s own custom yard sign, complete with a unique URL for easy access to the online listing. Brochures We will prepare an exclusive brochure of your home’s special features, MLS data and digital color photos. Sometimes buyers view 6-10 homes in one tour, therefore they may forget a home’s features along the way. Buyers can take this brochure as a reminder to your home’s unique features and location. Exclusive Preview/Private Network You may have heard of the Multiple Listing Service(MLS) – it’s the mainstream property database where virtually all homes are listed. But with @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, before your home goes on the live market, it is sent to our very own select list of buyers. We also can put the listing in the Private Network of the MLS where agents look for homes for their buyers before it hits the market. These techniques create urgency and sometimes a sale with close to list price contracts. Multiple Listing Service Of Northern Illinois 98% of all homes are sold off of the Internet. The Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois (MLSNI) is the database and software used by real estate brokers representing sellers to share information about properties with their brokers who may represent potential buyers. Online Presence And Syndication A property’s online presence is possibly its biggest line of offense any agent has in regard to broad exposure to buyers. Adding your property to the MLS will syndicate it to atproperties.com and many other popular websites including, but not limited to, Realtor.com, Zillow, Redfin, Trulia etc. Targeted marketing including platforms such as Adwerx, allow us to take our advertising game to the next level. Our print and digital campaigns connect with buyers in a way that is unobtrusive yet effective in getting maximum exposure. The tracking report that comes every week from this platform is very telling in regard to the buyers that are out there and how the property tracks online. The use of social media will allow your listing to touch your warm market through Facebook and Instagram ad boosts. Relocation/Leading RE @properties Christie’s International Real Estate is a participating member of the largest international real estate referral system in the world, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, which helps buyers and sellers move both nationally and internationally. Our vast network of transferees moving into the area is just another layer of exposure you can rely on.
MARKETING ACTION PLAN (CONTINUED)
Property Website We launch your property’s own website with a unique web address.
Internal/External Promotions The pl@tform and @app are two networking dashboards that allow us to prospect agents with clients specifically looking for homes that match yours as well as approach those agents that may have clients in different areas and encourage them to look at your home and realize all it has to offer. With over 3,000 agents, the @ network is vast and full of top producing professionals. Also, our relationship with local brokers at other companies gives us the opportunity to e-blast your home to ensure exposure to all the most experienced agents in the area. Satellite Driven Sentrilock Lockbox Before listing your home, we will need 2 sets of keys; one for the lockbox and one for our file. An electronic lockbox, Sentrilock, will be placed on your front door or another convenient location. Only licensed brokers with login credentials have access to the box. This is a safe and convenient way for Brokers to show potential buyers your home, along with being the “norm” among Brokers in Chicagoland. The lockbox is not active during the hours of 10:00pm-7:00am. Set-Up For Showings Setti ng up your home for showings will include a basket of booties for inclement weather, arranging the display of brochures and installing the lockbox. Showing Procedures Brokers who would like to preview your home with their buyers can make an appointment through our online showing platform, “ShowingTime”. Seller’s have the option to receive a phone call, text or email to confirm all showings. It can be uncomfortable for buyers to view homes when sellers are present. So, once an appointment is confirmed, sellers should leave their home a few minutes prior to the showing. Your home should be “staged” for every showing, this will increase your chances of selling it quickly! Showing Feedback Sellers will receive updates on all the showings and feedback from agents as soon as it is received. All showing agents will receive 3 automatic email requests for feedback, followed up by a phone call request. Some agents respond to these requests and unfortunately, some do not. If there is no response…. we can assume that buyer has no interest. Sellers will get a weekly report with updates on listing activity. Public Open House The impact of open houses has proven to be very successful in the past couple years. Should you desire to have an open house when your home is first listed, please talk to us about your expectations of this event and we can definitely come to an agreement. Market Analysis And Updates Tracking the market is easy with our @home report, a digital market overview built to keep home sellers in the know on today’s market. You will be notified of any new listings in your area, price changes and homes that go under contract or have sold. ShowingTime app allows us to track showings in the area and our team’s knowledge of the software gives us insight as to who is getting the showings. If it is an @agent that has shown a competing property, it allows us to reach out to that agent and encourage them to take a second look at your property. This is where it definitely pays to be aligned with one of the biggest brokerages in the area. Communication We pride ourselves on communication every step of the way. Our attention to detail and communication is continually recognized by past clients, who many times have written 5 star reviews and referred us to their family and friends. Your communication style and preferences are very important to us, therefore, in our initial meeting we will clarify your communication preferences to ensure we are meeting your needs. We know you have your choice of real estate professionals to work with, but we hope our style of communication and level of professionalism will exceed your expectations.
EXPENSES INVOLVED IN SELLING A HOME
Attorney Illinois is considered an “attorney” state. The attorney’s fee is an expense that you will pay at the closing, the average is $500-$600. The attorney will provide you with guidance through closing as well as schedule and coordinate the actual closing. The attorney plays a very important role in the real estate transaction so it is important to use a “real estate” attorney who practices this type of law regularly. Village Stamp Tax A local municipal tax. In some towns the buyer pays, in some towns the seller pays, some towns have no tax at all. This must be purchased from the Village prior to closing. Your attorney will guide you through this process as well. Closing Cost Fees You will have closing costs -- the entire package of miscellaneous expenses paid by the buyer and the seller when the real estate transaction closes. These costs include the title fees, survey, attorney’s settlement charges, transfer taxes, recording fees, title insurance and so on. Taxes You will need to credit the buyer any taxes you have not paid from the last time you paid taxes up until the date of closing. Your attorney will pro-rate the taxes for you and it will be a debit to the seller and a credit to the buyer on the closing statement. Typically, in the contract, 5-10% is added to the current tax amount in order to cover any tax increases. Commission Commission structure will be, or has, been discussed at your marketing meeting and is not due until closing. It will be deducted from your net proceeds. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have regarding commissions.
this process. The appraiser will request an appointment to view the home. We will meet with the appraiser on that day. Once viewing the home, the appraiser will determine a value on the home. Once the home has been appraised for a price equal to or higher than the purchase price, the loan will go into underwriting, the final step of the process. Should it not appraise at the purchase price, we will go over the options to resolve the deficiency in hopes of the contract moving forward. There are many solutions. In the world of appraisals, we say don’t worry until there is something to worry about. You will not see the buyer’s appraisal unless it comes in under the purchase price. Once all the requirements are submitted to their lender we await the final approval of the loan, it is at this time that the closing can be scheduled. Extensions are not uncommon within this contingency with disclosure as to what conditions are still outstanding. The magic words are that the file is “cleared to close”. 4. Things To Do Leading Up To Closing During the weeks before closing, it is a good time to initiate, contact and setup canceling accounts with local utility companies. Also, consult with your agent or attorney to see if the village has any real estate transfer requirements of the seller, such as move out inspections or transfer stamps. Regarding utilities, please do not schedule the cancellation of any utilities until the day after the scheduled closing as certain utility companies have been known to turn off the service when the clock strikes midnight. We will provide a moving checklist to you as well to make sure you are staying on track. This is also a good time to schedule an appointment with your attorney to sign final paperwork for closing. 5. Final “Walk Through” The day before or the day of closing, the buyers will perform a final walk-through of the home. The purpose of this appointment is to make sure the home is in the same condition as the day they offered and that all the personal items not included in the contract are removed. It is important to make sure the home is vacant and ready to close for this appointment. Please leave any manuals you may have, all keys and garage clickers on the counter. Please note that while paint and building supplies may be left with the best of intention, these items cannot be left behind without the agreement of the buyer, so please ask us to clarify. 6. Closing Sellers rarely attend closing anymore. It is generally the buyer, their counsel, and the title officer only. Closings can take anywhere between 1-3 hours! Your attorney will be the first one to know it is complete and will be able to get you funds in the manner in which you discussed at your signing appointment. CONGRATULATIONS your home is now sold!
1. Negotiate The Offer The offer process can take a couple days and no transaction is the same. This is where the experience of a real estate professional is important. Once an offer is received, negotiating will continue verbally until we come to an agreement with the other party. Modifications will be made to the original contract and initialed by all parties. It is at this time, depending on contract details, that earnest money will be tendered, and copies of the executed contract will be delivered to you and your attorney. We highly recommend using an experienced real estate attorney as they will be able to best represent you. If you need a real estate attorney, we are happy to refer a trusted attorney in the area. Please call the attorney to introduce yourself and talk about fees. This should always be a flat fee and not an hourly rate. MANAGING THE TRANSACTION PROCESS (30-60 DAYS) 2. Inspection/Attorney Review The first 5 business days (starting the day after acceptance) are considered the attorney/inspection review period. In this time frame the buyer will complete the professional inspection of the home. Radon is typically tested in Illinois. For this test, please prep the property the night before. Close up all windows and feel free to turn on the A/C or heat. Please keep the temps between 67-77 degrees with the doors and windows closed. Only open the doors to enter and exit the property. The fan of the HVAC should be set to auto. This has to be done at least 12 hours before the test. The test is 48 hours long unless the property is not prepared, then it is 72 hours. Once we receive inspection requests, as there are always some, the attorneys will correspond with the other side for resolution and close out the attorney review period. We then move onto the financing period of the buyer and appraisal. 3. Financing Period The financing period is where the buyer works on all the requirements necessary to get a firm mortgage commitment. The appraisal is an important aspect of
QUESTIONS SOMETIMES ASKED…
WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE?
If my house sells quickly, why should I have to pay the same? Real estate is not just a sales job. To think that our job stops with a contract on your home would be a mistake. When a home sells quickly, this is a blessing as selling your home can be stressful. It is inconvenient, difficult, and somewhat intrusive to have showing upon showing. Selling your home quickly means we priced appropriately for the market and exposed the property to right buyers to create a sense of urgency to get you a quick contract. This, in turn, allows you to avoid all the negative aspects of showing your home for weeks or sometimes even months. Studies show that selling with shorter market time results in higher selling prices and sometimes multiple offers. Therefore, when your home sells quickly, I would say we have done that aspect of our job very well. Our job doesn’t stop there…you hired us as experts, experts of the entire real estate transaction. You hired us to not only bring you a buyer but also to negotiate the best price and terms to make your transaction run smoothly. So many facets of the transaction go unnoticed in our world but can be the most stressful. From inspection requests and contractors to appraisals and lenders, there are many behind the scenes aspects of the transaction that often go unmentioned. Our job is to remove that stress from you and put out fires before they become infernos. Knowing the marketplace and areas allow us to understand what would be considered “standard” or “normal” and what is extraordinary. We do this while leaving the emotion at home to get you to the finish line and moving onto your new chapter. Our goal is for you to say at the closing table “that went so smoothly!” .
Experience, Expertise and Attention to Detail
» We utilize many marketing pieces that are specific to your property to ensure the most comprehensive and best exposure whether it be through public advertising or the private showing. Rest assured, buyers will be informed about your home! » We have a strong pulse on the real estate market including running comprehensive data reports, and keeping up with current market and finance conditions. We also have info on local pricing activity and exposure which can influence when is the best time to sell and for how much. » Our attention to detail and communication is continually recognized by past clients, who many times, have written 5 star reviews and referred us to family and friends. Clients often mention they felt they were finally “being heard” or that we were “with them every step of the way!”. » Our large professional network of attorneys, inspectors, stagers, contractors, service providers and lenders allow us to be your real estate “go-to” for life. Our relationship does not end at the closing table, it continues for years, being your resource for any real estate need you may have. » We have relationships with hundreds of local real estate brokers as well as access to information and listing activity before properties are even on the market. In fast-paced markets, your agent does matter. Having over 24 years of experience has resulted in being recognized by many agents as experienced professionals. It, in turn, also allows us to recognize the many personalities and work habits of agents in the market and who will be a good partner in making sure the transaction moves smoothly for all parties!
Should I sell now or later?
That question’s answer could be different depending on time of the year, market history and inventory. In general terms, we believe it is usually best to throw your hat in the ring when is best for you, however, keep in mind we do not have a crystal ball to tell us how future markets will treat us. The one thing the housing crash taught us is that there are no guarantees and the market can change on a dime. Interest rates, unemployment reports, inventory and consumer confidence all play a part in a good real estate market and are all considered to be ever-changing. So should you list now? It is a talk we will have specific to your home with the data we will provide about the market, months supply, list to sale price percentages and homes available.
MEGAN CAMPBELL BARNITZ REALTOR ®
773.544.9471 mobile meganbarnitz@atproperties.com
meganbarnitzrealestate
meganbarnitzrealestate
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