Real Estate Agent	RAINMAKER 30,937
	John Hokkanen
	Encinitas Real Estate
	location_on Encinitas, CA — SurfTheTurf.com
	insert_link http://www.EncinitasCarlsbad.com
	web Encinitas Real Estate and Homes - EncinitasCarlsbad.com

Our Team Has Many Skills - My professional work began as a software engineer.  By the age of 17, I had begun working in the aerospace industry developing avionics software.  However, a desire to expand my horizons eventually led me to get a study  Political Theory and then go to the University of Virginia School of Law.  While practicing as a litigator for the US Government, I began to explore how technology could help professional service providers (lawyers at that time) and redefine what kinds of services they provided to clients.  After we moved to Encinitas and my wife began her real estate business, I left the legal field to use my technology and Internet skills to build her business and then our team of real estate agents.  My focus is on marketing and technology, both of which play an important role in how we service both buyer and seller clients. 

Home Sellers - Sell High & Sell Quickly - The home sales market rises and falls.  In any market, selling a home for the highest possible price within a reasonable timeframe means finding the one buyer who loves the house.  In addition, a listing agent must work with buyers' agents with professionalism and integrity to conclude transactions succssfully. Home sellers must know their agent has the personnel, experience and tools to minimize delays and get the job done on time.

Home Buyers - Locate the Ideal Purchase, Negotiate the Price, and Avoid Pitfalls - With so much money on the line, home buyers want and need to avoid any mistakes.  They need to find the home that meets their specific needs so they are happy and do not have to move.  They need to negotiate the right price to minimize loss if the market falls.  They need to make sure that they know what they are buying and are well-represented so they are not surprised once they move in.  Home buyers must know that their agent has the knowledge and experience to be their advisor and advocate.

Successful real estate teams proactively find ways to sell homes at higher prices for sellers and to locate and negotiate ideal purchases for buyers.  Agents who passively watch the market without strengthening their internal resources fall behind.  The key is a comprehensive approach that weaves skills, technologies, and resources to respond to an evolving sales market. As one of the strongest real estate teams in San Diego County, the Surf The Turf Team continually positions itself to meet the needs of today's and tomorrow's home sellers and buyers.  Our array of core competencies and breadth of professional services are among the most comprehensive in the United States.

A good example of how we provide exceptional value to our clients are our brochures.  Typically, we print 5,000 brochures for every listing that we take.  Some people ask, "What in the world do you do with 5,000 brochures?"  The answer is simple: Get them into the community!  Selling a home is about maximum exposure of the property to as many potential buyers as possible.

 

Click here to see some other samples. Our ExpertsWe have built our team around area expertise, and that is why we do not let just any agent join our ranks. Just as law firms have partners who are experts in corporate, tax, or family law, we have experts who specialize by location and each of us represents both sellers and buyers. Thus, you work with an agent who knows your area of interest. Because we are a team, you get the expertise needed even when selling in one area and buying in another.

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FOR SELLERS FOR BUYERS Over the past five years we have invested heavily in our business and have unique skills and assets that allow us to deliver high-end services at a reasonable fee.  Our team’s strength begins with our people.  We have a full team of full-time practicing real estate agents, assistants, transaction/follow-up coordinators, and strong relationships with loan officers, escrow officers, and title insurance  reps. We have licensed real estate brokers on our team, agents that speak fluent Spanish, former loan officers who can teach about financing options, a former professional photographer, and a lawyer/engineer who is a marketing wizard.  Finally, all of our brochures and marketing are designed and developed internally.  Consequently, we can accept a listing with confidence that a complete array of marketing materials will be ready within days.  Below is an example of the kind of services that we offer to sellers.  Standard ListingCommission: 5%, shared 50/50 with buyer's agentMarketing Package     Professional architectural photo shoot    Aerial photographs of front of home and community features (pools, greenspaces, etc.)    5,000 four-page, full-color brochures    1,000 home tour DVD videos    2,500 door hangers (for delivering brochures into       target areas and move-up neighborhoods)    Aggressive web site marketing - We spend        thousands of dollars on advertising    Virtual Tours (360° photo views)    Video streaming of entire guided home tour video    Prominent positioning at SurfTheTurf web sites    Craigslist and other web site postings    Property presented at broker caravan "pitch"         session and held open for agents to preview    Open houses as often as is practicable     Other marketing as determined   Enhanced ListingCommission: (based on scope of enhancements)Additional Marketing Options    Additional home tour DVDs     Custom mailing campaign     Custom print advertising campaign     Custom Internet advertising optimized for        specific search terms    Custom-labeled water bottles for events Other agents charge 5%, 6%, or even 7%. Only our team offers these services, and we do so for a modest 5% commission....Call us today--We will be happy to meet, answer your questions and evaluate your home’s value. No Pressure - No Obligation  Example of one of our aerial photos: Click here to see a sample DVD video   Many real estate teams have one agent (or a couple) who heads the team and handles all or most of the listings.  Because these senior agents are busy with multiple sellers, they often hire inexperienced “buyer’s agents.”  Our team works differently!  We are organized by area (e.g., Yvonne is our expert in Oceanside, Karen for San Marcos, etc.), and every one of our agents represent both sellers and buyers. You will see that reflected in our web site with different experts on different sites. Our buyers benefit because they work with senior agents with a lot of area knowledge, negotiating skills, and strong buyer advocacy. When we represent you as a buyer, our duty runs completely to you as our client, and that means that we negotiate as hard for you as we do when we represent a seller.   Our clients love our team-based approach because it means that someone is always available to see property, hold an open house, or answer questions.  Plus, our clients get to draw upon the collective knowledge of the entire team.  For example, when one of Chris’s clients wants to shop in Encinitas or Carlsbad, the client is welcome to speak directly with Margaret and draw upon her deep area knowledge.  While most clients prefer to work with just one agent and draw upon another team members’ expertise, clients also have the option of working with different agents for different areas! Our web sites have tools for buyers that are unrivaled by other sites. See my Carlsbad and Encinitas web site as an example.  We understand that buyers want great tools for shopping on-line, and our web sites have the best tools anywhere.  For example, our homes-by-school-boundary maps allows parents to compare schools and the homes within their boundaries at the same time!  Here are some other tools that buyers like:  - Fixer Upper Lists          - Motivated Seller Homes  - No HOA Fee Homes      - Golf Course Properties  - 55+ Community Maps   - Not-on-Internet Homes  - West-of-I-5 Homes       - Value-Pick Listings      and our exclusive Crystal Ball Home Search  Here is a small example of one of our maps.  The push-pins are color-coded by price.  The number on the push pin tells you how many bedrooms.  One need only click on a pushpin to get all the details.   Click to see the real map.

People have asked about our DVDs and video technologies. We have been producing DVD home tours of our listings for years, and our innovation in this area has shown us that DVDs are instrumental in many ways:

More Previews
Since the DVD is placed on every brochure, each person who drives by may preview the home in the comfort of his or her living room.

Easier Access
Accessibility of the home is important, and DVD video makes a difference when a home is less accessible due to pets, sickness or other reasons.

Compelling Stories
Because the story told through the video is entirely under our control, we can present a home in the most compelling way. This can even involve the filming of local features, like parks and community pools, or interviewing of neighbors.

Involving Others
DVD video allows a potential buyer to share the home with others whose opinions matter (e.g., parents, friends, etc.) and allows the buyer to revisit the home again and again.  This helps buyers share and maintain their excitement for a home.

John Hokkanen
Broker, SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.
A California Real Estate Brokerage

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As the back-end person of the SurfTheTurf.com team, I am responsible for the group's marketing and technology. Visit our web sites and see the next era of home shopping - www.SurfTheTurf.com.