The good: Very responsive. Got sale done quickly and off-market, which was nice. Hired a few key vendors--cleaners, haulers, fire-alarm guy--who were crucial to the process. Reasonable commission. The meh: Willing to do some modest legwork, but not a big problem-solver. Stuff I had to fly out there for was stuff that a higher-touch agent could easily have handled. (In particular, getting the car moved was something that could've been handled by just getting a mobile mechanic out there to jump the car and drive it a couple of hundred feet. I had to fly out there with a jump kit, and move the car, myself. A couple of other things in that vein.) One thing that surprised me was that she didn't seem especially opposed to accepting the first lowball offer that came our way. We rejected that offer for a somewhat better one. Still, she didn't seem too passionate about getting us top dollar, and we sold a few thousand dollars less than the bottom end of the range she'd predicted. Was also surprised at the DIY nature of the closing process. In remote closings (which I've done in a number of states in different regions as both buyer and seller), realtor has always arranged for title company/notary (mobile or video). Here, the lawyer e-mailed me a bunch of PDFs for me to print, find myself a notary, and FedEx back. (To be completely fair, maybe this is customary in Jersey? I've never done business there.) When I had a question or two about the documents, Julia's response was that she wasn't a lawyer, so couldn't help with that. It was surprising to me that she couldn't offer any insights, given her deep experience with these sales. The first lawyer she set me up with was quite unpleasant and rude, but the next one she connected me with was fine and easy enough to work with. Generally got the impression that Fox Hills is a comfortable niche for her, and she's effective there, but don't expect her to go too far out of her way. Better suited to local than to remote sellers.
Julia Torsiello
