Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Clear Choice for Repeat Home Sellers

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, an HSF Affiliates LLC company, announced that the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices real estate brokerage network ranked “Highest Overall Satisfaction for Repeat Home Sellers Among National Full Service Real Estate Firms” in the J.D. Power 2017 Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction Study^SM. The network has a local presence at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty, which serves New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont.

The 10^th annual study measured customer satisfaction among the nation’s largest real estate brokerage companies and their agents through March and April. Overall satisfaction was gauged across five factors of the real estate process: agent/salesperson, closing process, real estate company marketing, real estate company office, and package of additional services. The study was based on responses from 4,170 consumers.

“Our agents are dedicated to working hard and earning trust from our customers,” said Margherita Verani, CEO of Verani. “We’re proud to be part of a network that shares our values of mutual respect, trust, customer service, and quality. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ ranking by J.D. Power is the most recent example of how they offer superior real estate services to clients and customers in New England and beyond.”

The 500 real estate agents in the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices local network represent Verani’s 50-year reputation for excellence and community engagement. Verani, which has sales and marketing centers in 14 locations throughout New England, was recently named the “Fastest Growing Family Business in New Hampshire” by Business NH Magazine readers, among other accolades, due in part to its growth rate of more than 18 percent.

Among repeat home sellers, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices scored 858 on a 1,000-point scale, performing particularly well in the categories for agent/sales person, closing process and real estate company marketing.

Gino Blefari, CEO and president of the network, discussed how the ranking speaks volumes.

“Repeat home sellers have been through the real estate process before and have a clear understanding of the work and expertise involved in a successful home sale,” he said. “This type of satisfaction means Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network agents are excelling when it comes to communicating with clients and listing and marketing clients’ homes. That’s the ‘heavy lifting’ of real estate.”

J.D. Power’s study yielded several key findings about the real estate process. Among them:

• An agent’s relationship with a buyer is the most important factor in determining customer satisfaction. For sellers, marketing of the home is the most important factor, as it is the most visible way for the seller to gauge the agent’s support.
  
  
• Satisfaction is strongly influenced by the amount of time agents invest in keeping customers informed vs. when they are not kept informed. Among first-time buyers and sellers, satisfaction is 117 points higher among buyers and 93 points higher among sellers. Among repeat buyers and sellers, satisfaction is 210 points higher among buyers and 192 points higher among sellers when they receive a timely response to questions and concerns vs. when they do not.
  
  
• Word-of-mouth remains important: First-time home buyers and sellers report good reputation and recommendations from friends, family and colleagues as the two main reasons for selecting a real estate company.

“In New England, many areas are facing extreme competition and tight inventory, making the relationship between a real estate agent and client a key part of finding the right property as efficiently as possible,” said Lisa Simmons, an award-winning REALTOR, CBR, and a top-performing relocation specialist with Verani who helps clients from across the country find properties in New England. “We’ve seen firsthand, and now represented in the data from J.D. Power, how responsiveness and reputation set Verani apart because we blend high level real estate expertise with local knowledge and an in-depth understanding of our clients and communities.”

About J.D. Power

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. These capabilities enable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth and profitability. Established in 1968, J.D. Power is headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., and has offices serving North/South America, Asia Pacific and Europe.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices received the highest numerical score among five real estate companies for repeat home sellers in the J.D. Power 2017 Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction Study, based on 5,117 evaluations from 4,170 consumers, measuring the perceptions and experiences of people who bought and/or sold a home between March-April 2017. Your experiences may vary. Visit http://www.jdpower.com/resource/us-home-buyerseller-satisfaction-study for details.

About Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, based in Irvine, CA, remains one of the nation’s fastest-growth real estate brokerage networks with 43,500 agents and 1,320 offices named to the brand since its launch in fall 2013. The network, among the few organizations entrusted to use the world-renowned Berkshire Hathaway name, brings to the real estate market a definitive mark of trust, integrity, stability and longevity. Visit www.berkshirehathawayhs.com.