Benjamin Brown

May 22, 2008

To whom it may concern:

In January of 2008, my husband was offered a job in Sanpete County and we were faced with the task of selling our home for the move. We researched selling a home by owner vs. selling a home with a realtor, and decided to try to get the most money we could out of our home, which we thought meant selling by owner.

We looked online and got checklists for what should be done in a home to sell it quickly and properly, and began doing fix-ups. This included new carpet, paint, organized closets, de-personalization of rooms, and storing of excess items. I had researched how to sell a home by owner and had designed flyers, put up signs, posted information on ‘Craigslist' and KSL, and created a blogspot with more photos of our home. The first day we placed the ‘for sale by owner' sign, a realtor stopped by wanting to do a market analysis. We allowed him to do so and found that we were priced about right, if not on the bargain side.

Within the first week, we had five showings just from our advertising. The next week, we began getting bombarded with realtors trying to get us to sell with them. That same week, we had an offer on our house, and negotiated a price to sell our home. The couple came over, signed the offer paper, and wanted to close the end of March. We contacted a title company and were arranging to have our buyers pay their deposit to them. Soon afterwards, our buyers notified us that they would not be able to buy our home because the husband had gotten an unforeseen job transfer to Arizona and they too would have to relocate.

By this time, it was almost the first part of March, and my husband was going to start work in Sanpete. We decided that it would be too much of an effort for us to live apart, and thus began contemplating using a realtor again. We were working on making this decision when Ben Brown showed up at our door, offering to do a market analysis and to give us information on his ‘for sale by owner' program. Because of this program, we were convinced that we should let him do another analysis and give us his information. Otherwise, we would have just contacted our favorite realtor from the long list of who had previously come over.

So, Ben brought by his information, and it was apparent that he knew the ins and outs of selling a home by owner and with a realtor. He assured us that selling a home with a realtor will actually sell your home quicker, with less stress, and for more money than by owner. At this point, I wasn't sure I believed him, since we had already gotten an offer on our home, and I felt that it had gone quickly and for the right price. However, we talked it over, and decided to go with Ben anyway. His timing, approach, and confidence in our home were convincing reasons why. We were impressed that he would offer full service advertising for our home for a very comparable realtor fee. We were also impressed that he would go the extra mile to make sure everything was locked up, secured, monitored, and maintained while we were gone. He did this to the point of offering to take our garbage can out to the street and back for us, driving by on his way home from work to make sure the doors were locked and the lights off, and even watering our plants once a week when he was there, so the home could continue to show well. Ben talked us into raising our price a bit, and ensured us that we could always lower our price later or negotiate more with buyers this way. He convinced us that he had done significant research and knew that we weren't over pricing our home by doing this, and would actually attract the same amount of buyers.

As our process began with Ben, he was in constant contact with us via email and phone calls. He made sure we were aware of all the showings in our home, and the feedback that we had received. It ended up that we obtained an offer in about a week and a half after posting our home for sale with Ben. We negotiated a price that was $11,000.00 more than what we had settled on in our ‘for sale by owner' contract. Ben walked us both through the selling/buying process, and walked the buyers into the title company to sign the deal. It ended up that he was absolutely right in our case: you do sell a home faster, for more money, and with lots less headache if you go with a realtor to sell your home.

I have one more bit of information regarding Ben. The reason that we chose him, and can endorse him now is because he has the skills, know-how, and hard work ethic that we were looking for. We saw at least ten different realtors who tried to sell our home for us, and we turned all of them down. Ben was different because of his ‘for sale by owner' approach, his belief in full realtor service for the same price, his approachability, professionalism, work ethic, and timing. We really believe that if you time it right, are patient with the buyer, and have something different to offer, you are more likely to get in the door to make the sale.

Sincerely,

Malynda & Lee Bjerregaard

Happy thanksgiving to all. We have so much to be thankful for this year. In a time of a slowing economy and an unsure market we still have plenty to be thankful for. Our families first of all without the support of them we would not be able to be in this profession. Our country that allows us to own and help others have part of the American dream. God Bless those men and women who are not with their families today because they are defending our freedoms in other parts of the world. We in Utah can be thankful for our market and the fact that while slowing there is still plenty of work for those who are willing to work and learn the fundamentals again or for the first time. Please take a moment today to reflect on why you should be thankful and be aware of those who are less fortunate. May we all have a great holiday season and a happy and successful new year.

We now have a date time and place to hold our dinner and dance. Check out details at www.relieffortonga.com . you can buy tickets at gas stations around Logan, Grocery stores and online at www.relieffortonga.com If you just want to donate you can do it thru a paypal account on our website www.relieffortonga.com. Thank you for your support.

Last year ABC's Extreme Makeover Home Edition came to Cache Valley and Logan Utah and changed the life of one of our great families the Pauni's. They are now changing the life of many people in Tonga who don't even have the essentials that we all take for granted. During the show and shortly after one of my Clients and the Sister in law of the recipient family gathered clothes from many drives to send to the people of Tonga. She is also a professional coupon shopper. She has 10 wooden boxes 4x4x8 that are chuck full of goods, clothes, and hygiene items that will bless and change the lives of many less fortunate people in Tonga. These Boxes will be loaded into a overseas container and be shipped to Tonga in mid December. Pictures and Video will be shot and taken at the time of delivery and we will share the joy and blessings you have helped bring to the people of Tonga by providing some of the things we take for granted everyday to people on the other side of the world.

As the Broker of Cornerstone Real Estate Professionals I have taken a strong interest in helping her in her quest. she is trying to raise $7000 to ship the goods over to Tonga, we are going to put on a dinner and dancing with the Pauni Dancers and food to help raise the money needed to ship these boxes over to Tonga.

If you would like to help in the orgainaziton, support, or would like to donate time or money to help please contact me at ben@liveinlogan.com or call 435-764-6683.

Watch my Blog as I will update you as we get closer to our dinner and reaching our goals. Remember how lucky we are as we help others live the American dream. Please consider helping us in this Relief for Tonga Project.