- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Sean McCormack
Category: Home Services Real Estate Real Estate Agents Real Estate Agents [Edit]
Central Metro Realty100 E Anderson Ln
Austin, TX 78752
(512) 653-1213
20% off my commission...
I'll give you 20% of my commission back to you at closing! Work with a great Realtor and make some money. Oh yeah.
13 reviews for Sean McCormack
13 reviews in English
-
Review from J N.
Austin, TX
8/30/2011 1 photo
My wife and I recently completed our home buying odyssey... a long saga with tales of good and evil leading to a moment like no other... a brave new world, our home.
In the not so distant past, evil Realtor overlords dominated the housing horizon. Time and again, we tried to shed these oppressors of dreams, alas they seem to arise at every home purchase. Then came Sean... a seemingly unassuming, small town boy with dreams of a big city. His search took him from the confines of a small town known as "New York City" and brought him to the strange, new and decidedly weird world known as Austin, TX. He sought a different path, one that only became clearer over time. By channeling his spirit is this sparse, southwestern desert he found his calling, deliver people... home.
Soothed by the oasis that is Austin, this lone rebel was willing to stand up to the Empire. Not afraid to turn in a low bid and willing to stand up to the dogmatic forces of proper real estate etiquette, our guide lead us from vast desert mountains of SW Austin to through the hills and to the highlands where our home now resides. All along the way, Sean dealt adamantly with the riffraff in the real estate gutters. Fighting the good fight for the small guy, he established himself as a Realtor of the people.
Now, as we move onto the next chapter in our lives, we'll forever be grateful to the agent who said "those electrical boxes are dangerous" and "I wouldn't want a rat to fall on your face". Truly a man of distinction. Thank you Sean Austin, and godspeed. -
Review from Gary H.
Austin, TX
1/17/2011
Sean has a positive outlook and is very personable. The best thing about working with Sean is that he really listens to what is on your mind and what you are looking for. He communicates information really well and lets you know what the next step or steps in the home buying process will be.
He clearly has a lot of specialized knowledge and knows the Austin market. Sean deals with everyone with honesty and integrity.
Sean has a hilarious sense of humor and a great person to show you around if you are new to the Austin scene. -
Review from Erica W.
Austin, TX
6/28/2011
We were looking to rent a house. We email and called, over a week later no response. Not too impressed especially with such good reviews. First impression was not so positive. Went elsewhere and received great help.
-
Review from Mandy S.
Austin, TX
12/22/2009
Immediately after closing on our house, I made a mental note to write Sean a killer Yelp review:
When I was in high school, I watched an episode of a reality show on MTV where an average woman got a crash course as a real estate agent and was put to the test against professionals in the business. She actually fooled the clients, following the advice to parade them into the homes, making grand, sweeping gestures about the french doors and fireplace, highlighting the staging, and in general talking loudly and excitedly.
Before working with Sean, that was pretty much my impression of real estate agents and Realtors, and I was prepared to have to filter a lot of our experiences at showings to properly evaluate each home.
When I told my boyfriend I was interviewing real estate agents and mortgage brokers, he pouted that having to be on your guard really took the magic out of buying a house, to which I replied, "Don't think of it that way. It's not magic; it's a business transaction." And while it certainly was a business transaction, I am so grateful that our experience with Sean did indeed make buying our first home feel magical.
Sean went above and beyond all my expectations. We didn't yet have a car when we started the process, so he did a lot of shuttling us around, even offering to bring us and our cat to the emergency vet one evening. Since we were new in town (and Texas), while driving he gave us the rundown of Austin neighborhoods and highlighted features and told stories on the way.
He was able to quickly get the feel of what we were looking for (huge yard and sweat equity, baby!), and tailor the search to exclude what he knew I would hate in a house (galley kitchens). He humored my obsession with DIYing, helped me pull stoves out from the walls, and stood on a toilet to look at potential water damage in the ceiling while I peeled back carpet to look at the subfloor.
It was great to get emails with the advanced MLS listings of homes he thought we'd like, but Sean was totally open to checking out anything we found as well, though he was invaluable in paring those down based on things we either overlooked or didn't know from the public MLS listing. He has a great eye and can pretty much point out exactly why a house hasn't been selling after walking in the door.
We finally chose between three houses in varying states of finish. One would have been a gut remodel, and to help us decide if we wanted to undertake such a big job, Sean offered us his own experiences with remodels, including before and after pictures as well as contractor info. Though we chose a house that didn't need as much work, that contractor info is on file for the future! He never tried to sell us on a house, and even told us we shouldn't offer more than $30K less than the asking price on one. And when we decided on THE house, he helped us formulate a competitive offer that included the sellers paying our closing costs.
All in all, Sean is totally knowledgeable, honest, easygoing, really hilarious, and easy to get hold of (email, phone and text). He gave us a Yelp rebate of his commission even though I confessed I'd totally overlooked that detail, and don't actually know if I told him I found him on Yelp.
Double points for recommending Julie Black, who I had already contacted based on Yelp recommendations and was the only mortgage broker I got GFEs from to be fully honest with us and have totally reasonable fees. AND we closed quickly and easily! And triple points for recommending Gary Hart, who was willing to do a same-day inspection and provided a full written summary of the inspection with pictures. We bought a giant ladder and I'm excited to get up there and replace those roof flashings.
So thank you, Sean, for making it possible for me to be sitting in our own home, writing this review while looking out the window at our frolicking dogs in our awesome backyard, and eating vegan marshmallows from the bag. -
Review from A M.
Austin, TX
4/24/2010
This is the best real estate agency ever. I am a first time home buyer but through experiences with my parents buying home in the past I know the difference. They were very helpful, hands on and set the seller straight for me when they had too. Sam the finance man even caught a credit we discussed with the seller that had been removed and found a creative legal way for me to get it back. They helped me with my tax credit, keys, hoa even decorating. I can't wait until my place is finished so I can invite them over for a thank you party.
Thanks so much for making my first home buying experience the best every. -
Review from Louise O.
San Francisco, CA
5/12/2010
Sean is a friendly and personable real estate agent. He has a sincere enthusiasm for helping people look for homes that meet their requirements. My sister found him through Yelp and went out with him every single weekend for a month in search of our first home. We liked the fact that Sean was patient and not pushy. We never felt any pressure to settle for a house that did not meet all of our requirements.
I flew down to Austin in late March to look for homes in person and with time running out, 2 nights before I left, we found the perfect house. We submitted an offer the next morning!
We also loved the home inspector that Sean recommended. Justin was fantastic!
Here's where this review falls short of 5 stars:
As a home is one of the most expensive purchases a person will buy, it is critical that the agent who represents you is detail oriented, organized and has excellent communication skills.
* I requested comps for properties that we were interested in and he emailed that he would get back to me the next day. He did not return the information until 5 days later. Timeliness and a sense of urgency was lacking.
* We asked for $1000 towards the closing costs and Sean forgot to include it in the contract. I caught it and Sean modified the contract and I had to re-sign it.
* The sellers needed to stay in the house an additional 3 days and we included a lease-back addendum in the contract. I told Sean to confirm with my sister on the amount that was needed per day. He sent me the addendum, and I asked him to change the amount. He never got around to it and submitted the addendum as is. I changed the amount, but the sellers did not accept it. I felt that he was not as thorough and on top of everything as he could be. To be fair, Sean did provide the $30 balance from his commission during closing so it did work out in the end.
* When I asked him what was required during the closing and about timelines to closing he was not able to articulate clearly what was required.
* The electric breakers needed to be replaced in the house and other electric updates needed to be made. Sean requested an additional $1300 to cover the cost of replacement. When I asked him how he determined this amount he stated that we could get it done for $600 and also assumed that my sister's boyfriend could do the other smaller repairs. Well, the estimates we've received are over $1000.
I would recommend Sean for the actual house searching process, but would like a more thorough and detail oriented agent during the contract negotiation and closing. -
Review from Richard D.
Atwater Village, CA
8/27/2007
Sean took a lot of time with me to find just the right place to rent when I moved to Austin 2 years ago. He listened to what I was looking for and found me the right place in just a couple hours. He really knows his stuff.
He's not your typical (or rather stereotypical) agent -- he's personable and funny and just a good guy to hang around with. There's no pressure and the guy seriously listens to you. You won't find anyone better. -
Review from Ken H.
Portland, OR
8/23/2010
After deciding to sell our house and move to Portland, we looked on Yelp for recommendations for a real estate agent. Of the three we interviewed, we decided on Sean. We liked how other Yelpers described him as going out of his way to get them exactly the houses they needed, even if it meant more work or smaller commissions for him. We were also impressed by his smart, relaxed, friendly personality, and his optimistic attitude towards selling our house in a slow market. He seemed like somebody we could really work with.
The market being what it was, it took us longer than we'd hoped to make a sale, and there were times when we wondered if we'd chosen our agent wisely enough. For instance, the glowing notices on Yelp were mostly from buyers - there wasn't much from people whose houses he'd helped to sell. We also wondered if he'd advised us to set our asking price too high. But he patiently helped us navigate the ups and downs of the process, and gave us plenty of good input when we needed it, with the result that we sold at a decent price within a reasonable amount of time.
Some sellers might prefer a more aggressive agent, with a snappier line of patter, but all in all, we appreciated Sean's steadiness, honesty, and persistence, and are grateful to him for helping us make a stressful experience turn out to be successful and positive. -
Review from Troy D.
Oakland, CA
4/10/2009
When my wife and I decided to buy a second home in Austin, we asked our agent in the Bay Area to help us track down a good Austin agent. She made some calls and sent me some names. I contacted the resulting list but felt no chemistry with anyone I spoke to. Finally I turned to Yelp! (of course) and found Sean. OMG! He is the single-best agent I've ever worked with, bar none. He's communicative, savvy, reliable, a great negotiator, and funny as all get out. Sean recommend a terrific mortgage broker, who was a pleasure to work with. He even did leg work for me, finding contractors to take care of some of the repairs the house needed after closing.
Being from California, I was perplexed by Texas real estate laws, but Sean piloted me through the transaction. I'm still surprised that I had to dance three times around the property at midnight in nothing but a grass skirt while he took pictures--but Sean told me that was the law in Texas. Who was I to question? Must be some weird law left over from the Lone Star Republic years.
But seriously, Sean is a terrific agent. I recommend him without reservation. If you want a personal reference, feel free to send me a message through Yelp!, and I'll be happy to go on and on and on. -
Review from Mike C.
Austin, TX
9/13/2009
Sean is absolutely great as a realtor and his honesty and integrity are why I'm writing this review. His knowledge of the area is superb, and his ability to assess what we were looking for from our very vague instructions was even more impressive. We are new to Austin and didn't even know what areas to look in so he told us the facts on all the areas around town. He didn't praise or kill any of them, just gave us the facts and let us make up our own mind. He made the arduous process of finding exactly what we wanted actually seem fun! How often have you heard that about a realtor!?! In the end, what we wanted is so specific that he suggested another Realtor that specialized in that field. That's right, he gave a client to some one else because he thought we would be better served. It doesn't get better than that.
-
Review from Christian K.
Round Rock, TX
7/28/2010
My company relocated us us from the Bay Area to the Austin area and we had a very short time frame to find a house. We needed a Realtor that could work with us remotely and we needed them fast. We started our search and found Sean on Yelp. Out of all the realtors we talked to we felt the most comfortable with Sean. Sean immediately started sending us properties to look at and we planned a house hunting trip to Austin. Sean made the time to spend 3 full days with us. We looked at 10 plus houses and Sean was very patient, knowledgeable, and friendly. We got along great, had a fantastic trip, and found a house! As we were still remote Sean was a huge help with all items that needed to get done after we made an offer. I'd also like to point out he put is in touch with a great Mortgage Broker, Julie Black, who was also very helpful through the process. All-in all it was a great experience and we love our new house! Give Sean a call if you're in the market.
-
Review from Melinda B.
Austin, TX
3/10/2010
OK - so I found Sean on yelp. Because he was so awesome, I trust yelp a lot more now for other reviews! The reviews are true - he is awesome. What is good about Sean is he is not that big hair real estate lady telling you that everything is great - and he didn't try to push us into a house we couldn't afford. He even showed us houses that were BELOW the price we wanted to spend. He is not pushy at all but he also didn't let us make the mistake of buying a house we really don't really want. Also, even when we stopped negotiating for a lower price on the house - he continued for us - he was truly there for us! Sean ROCKS!
-
Review from Kevin H.
Round Rock, TX
3/10/2009
I've written a grand total of one review on yelp. Every 12 months, I go back into yelp, reset my password, and update this one review. Today I'm doing an update to that review, which comes nearly three years after having worked with Sean when we moved to Round Rock to buy our home. So why am I doing this? Because Sean is a good person that I trust. I know that trust is loaded word in real estate these days, but honestly, if you are making a move, you still need to talk to someone who is an expert in the market. I don't need Sean's services today, but I may in the future. I talk with Sean a few times a year to keep in touch. He is a good man, has a family, and is actually quite funny to talk to. I've seen the other reviews, and they are accurate, and funny in their own regard. Perhaps the most important review I can give is taking the time, nearly three years after using Sean's services, to update an old review on a social networking site that I really don't use.
