Licensed Realtor® helping Texans buy and sell properties in Austin, TX., and Surrounding Areas.
Let me help you find the perfect house that feels like home.
Lorna Dibkey
Licensed Realtor | Texas One Star Realty
Your complete satisfaction is my #1 goal because if you’re satisfied, you will refer me to your friends. What I bring to the table is experience, integrity, a national network of real estate professionals, and numerous marketing methods all aimed at getting the job done right. I work in the Greater Austin Area including Travis, Williamson, Lee, Bastrop, Caldwell, and Hays county.
Buying a Home in Austin or Bastrop Area?
Not every home for sale in the area can be found on the Internet. Let my direct access to all the listings help you locate your dream home in the most efficient way possible. If you are moving to this area, I can provide you with helpful information so that your move is as worry-free as possible. Feel free to contact me for local information like the best schools and communities. We cover the Greater Austin Texas Area – 13 counties. I have keys to almost every one of them, so just give me a call!
Selling a Home in Austin or Bastrop Area?
There are lot’s of do’s and don’ts when selling a home. Let me use my years of experience to guide you along a successful path of preparation, promotion and closing the deal.
Should I use a Realtor with a large or small company?
The size of the company you list with has nothing whatsoever to do with how fast your house will sell, how many people will view it, and/or how high a price, or not, that you will receive for it. Truly the market determines these things, not the agents, and certainly not the size of the company. When you sign a listing, the agent/representative does not own your listing, the company does. Nearly all real estate companies belong to a real estate board (but not all) and must belong to a board to call themselves a REALTOR® . Remember – all real estate is local (very local). Under all is the land. Rules and regulations that apply in one location perhaps do not apply in another.
By putting your home on your local and surrounding area MLS system(s), your agent is doing so to attract a buyer for your home by sharing your listing information with his/her colleagues, both local and long-distance. Ideally, you are hiring your agent to negotiate the very best contract for you once an offer is on the table.
Most companies use the services of at least one MLS system, and many use more than one, depending upon what trading areas they service.
It costs the company money to use the services of an MLS system, and it costs your agent money as well; so, a small company or large, your agent’s goal is to get your house sold for you. The methods of paying for MLS systems and the related methods of conducting business vary; some charge per listing, others charge an annual fee to belong to a Board and sometimes this fee covers the use of the MLS system.
Either way, we all (small companies and large ones) use the same methods of eliciting a sale for you. MLS (Multiple Listing System) is merely a vehicle used by agents as an information-sharing device and, in most cases, a method of describing how agents will be paid when they produce an offer for the Seller. In some areas, the MLS is owned outright by a particular Real Estate Board (plans for the future indicate that this may change over the next few years). The Board makes rules and regulations as to who can use the MLS system and who can do what within the system. Agents must follow strict guidelines. By putting your home on your local and surrounding area MLS system(s), your agent is doing so to attract a buyer for your home by sharing your listing information with his/her colleagues, both local and long-distance.
In a small company environment, you are likely to be dealing directly with the owner, who is perhaps the president or Broker of Record for the company. As a result, it can be possible for you to maintain a more advantageous position sometimes, particularly if you are the sort of personality who wants to be involved in the process in a more personal way, and want or demand one-on-one service; perhaps even having your agent attend personal meetings with your attorney or law office if there is a personal crisis going on. A small company or its owner can provide this one-on-one service sometimes more readily, or more easily but more often just because he/she wants to give you that personal extra service. You will often find that a sole operator company has gone into this sort of business on their own because they want to stay small. They do not ever want to “grow the company.” A small company is based and built on personalized service. If that is what you want, then that is who you hire to list your property. Chances are someone from the big company may be the one to bring your offer and by all means, that is ok. It is more than ok. It is wonderful because you don’t care who buys your house. That getting of the offer is the actual goal. How it gets there should not matter to you. But your personalized attention from your listing agent may make the difference in how it is all handled and the ease of the situation may be worth something to you personally. Perhaps consider doing business and listing your home for sale with a small firm or an independent company when you are ready to sell.
