Why Us
Hi, I’m Stephen O’Hara. I’m the Broker and CEO of OrangeCountyRealEstate.Com
You can hire any real estate agent and take your chances, or you can hire my Partners and me at OrangeCountyRealEstate.Com to work with you first. I’ll guarantee that you’ll have a different real estate experience. I like to say that we are the ‘Nordstrom’s®, Chick-fil-A® and In-N-Out® of Real Estate.
We intimately know just about anything you want to know about Orange County – the kind of information that will help you FEEL what it is like to live in the specific area of Orange County in which you have an interest and fits your needs the most.
The truth is, most Buyer’s and Seller’s don’t know much at all about the Agent they hire to help them Buy or Sell a home.
This is where Www.OrangeCountyRealEstate.Com can help you – a lot! When you contact us, the first person you talk to is NOT there to ‘sell’ you anything. That ‘first person’ is paid SOLEY to help provide you the basic information you need to begin the process of buying or selling real estate. Once we understand your needs, you’ll be ready to work with me and my Partners who are specifically trained to help guide you around the areas in which you have an interest. This not only includes geographically, but also buying, selling, investing, financing and much more.
Let’s play a game of word association. If Buying and Selling Real estate evokes feelings of distrust – like buying and selling used cars, you are not alone. In fact, according to a recent Harris Poll Survey, real estate agents rank at the BOTTOM of their most prestigious occupation poll. That’s right, BELOW Politian’s, attorney’s and automobile dealers.
Perhaps most at fault is the real estate industry’s lack of consistent standards. To be clear, there are Code of Ethics and various other designations and protocol by which REALTORS® are to conduct themselves, but at the end of the day, getting a job at a real estate brokerage is about as easy as ‘fogging up a mirror’. Real Estate Agents don’t usually get the job base upon their technique or track record. It’s rather sad, actually.
It’s sad because there ARE a number of REALTORS® who, frankly, you’d let represent your mother; unfortunately, the odds of you finding one of these fine Agents are low. Let’s face it, anyone can ‘hide behind’ a national brand and LOOK like they know what they are doing, but, considering the majority of legal actions against real estate agents are against agents who have been in the business for less than two years.
For example, there is the Agent who got their license one week in San Francisco and moved to Orange County and went to work for a brokerage several weeks later. Not only did this Agent not know one thing about Orange County, but when their navigation device failed and they pulled out a map, the map was so old it didn’t have the newer communities in Orange County on it! Is this the agent YOU want to help you buy or sell real estate? Read more
Then, there is the Agent who got a little greedy. She began with a buyer in South Orange County and when the Buyer decided (for commute reasons) that they needed to be closer to Los Angeles and they wanted to look at North Orange County, the South County Agent tried to show them homes.
The truth is, the South County Agent knew NOTHING about Central and North County. All they cared about was that their Lock Box Key worked all over Orange County and they needed to make a fat commission. In truth, it would have been in the best interest of the Buyer if the South County Agent REFERRED the Buyer to a Agent who knew the North County area.
I take what we do very, very seriously. For example, for an Agent to be my Partner, they MUST pass a Background Check, have been active and successful in the real estate business for three or more years and, of course, pass my ‘mom’ test. (You’ll hear about this a lot. My ‘mom’ test is how I decide ‘who’ I will Partner with. I always ask myself, would we let a particular Agent represent my own Mother in a real estate transaction?)
I feel that Buying and Selling real estate is probably, for most people, the most intricate and important transaction they will make in their lifetime. There are so many details involved in the typical real estate transaction that there are many rooms for ‘risk and errors’. Errors that can cost YOU money. Big money.
For example, certain transactions are ‘time sensitive’ meaning that the IRS has imposed deadlines that MUST be met in order for you to reap the tax benefit. When you hire an Agent who isn’t aware of these deadlines, it could cost you thousands of dollars in tax liabilities.
In other transactions, one property can be locate across the street from another and yet have the equivalent of another 1% of the purchase price assessed in tax like charges every year! And, then there is the case of the properties’ water rights that are separate from the property itself. The list of possible nightmares and exposure to litigation go on and on.
When you work with me and my team at Www.OrangeCountyRealEstate.Com, you can start and end your home buying or selling process with peace of mind. I’ve always taught my team that an educated client is the best client. I believe in 100% TRANSPARANCY. No games.
Now, here’s the best part, if you have any problems with my Partner’s, you can (confidentially) tell me or my manager and we’ll either fix the problem or fire the Partner. I don’t want you to work with someone you are not comfortable with. It’s my way of being with you every step of the way.
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