Smallegan Real Estate — Attraction in Grand Rapids

Jim Hocking was amazing. He worked with my wife for the better part of a year to help us find the right property. We drove all over the Grand Rapids area and the lakeshore. This included us moving towards making an offer on another property, which was stopped after Jim evaluated a few things on our behalf. Jim was logical and answered direct questions regarding market activity and what negotiating position would meet expectations of both parties. It was an opening ofer, with a reasonable counter to agreement in less than 24 hours. Good job really by both sellers and buyers representation. Ultimately, with the property we closed on, Jim was extremely helpful in helping coordinate home inspection and running down some concerns that were identified in that process prior to appraisal. He also covered the cost of a termite inspection that really should not have been requested by my lender due to the homes age (2.5 years), but I understand it is part of their process to insure the homebuyer is protected. He also helped coordinate with my lender that I used due to their pricing and services for vets and VA loan rates in this crazy escalating inflationary market we are in. The flowers he brought for my wife at the closing table were the icing. Devon Hamelink (office manager) was also helpful in providing timely information. One recommendation I would have would be to tailor information to fit the experience level of home buyer you’re dealing with. This home is our 6th home and much of the information was rudimentary and more geared toward less experienced buyers that felt like more of a vanilla approach. The only small issue that I would add to assist Devon would be that there was a small amount due at closing that (less than $40) was not identified in the cash to close settlement that I received the day prior to closing. Devon did send an email on the subject a few hours before closing but I did not receive it in time due to other professional commitments with my business. This culminated in my wife and I having to pull out cash from our wallets to cover it. I should have received a phone call. I would also think that the real estate agency should have covered this minimal expense due to delay in notification. Not wanting to close on a negative for the entire experience, which was...

I cannot recommend Jim Hocking enough! I was put in contact with Jim by way of a friend's referral and it was the best thing that ever happened to my home purchasing journey. At the time, I had been working with a flashy downtown agent who did not have my best interests in mind, suggested a very unequipped mortgage lender, and left me with a very negative feeling about the entire home purchasing process in general. Boy, what a breath of fresh air Jim was. The very first thing he did was walk through each of the types of documents involved in the home purchasing process so that nothing could take my partner and I by surprise. He also introduced me to a an absolute rockstar of a lender who continued to overperform on his already stellar promises throughout the close. Jim was extremely attentive in our search process that lasted several months, never wavering in his optimism and offering encouragement throughout the gauntlet of putting offers on houses in the current market. One of the things I appreciated the most about having Jim as a realtor was his incredible wealth of knowledge, both in the current market(he provided extensive comp reports to make sure we were putting in competitive but value driven offers), but also in his expertise when it came to looking at houses and having a knack for spotting potential issues for a home's future maintenance costs that saved us more than once from overpaying for a home that would require serious repairs. Once we finally received the incredible news that our offer had been accepted, Jim continued to work diligently on our behalf assisting us with inspection recommendations and scheduling, negotiation with the listing agent to reduce our closing costs, looking through county records to answer property boundary questions we had, and more going above and beyond what I would have expected from an agent. I can't imagine what this process would have been like without his assistance and I highly recommend him as an agent who truly looks...

Superior service and excellent experience with Smallegan Real Estate! Jay Kilgo and Devon Hammerlink are a great team and make the buying process seem simple as they support you every step of the way from start to finish. Jay was spot on in his advice on how to structure our offer and his expertise was on full display as he walked me through every detail of our offer and explained various ways to differentiate our offer from competing offers. In the end, our offer was accepted (amongst many) based on the strength of Jay’s recommendations.

Once we were under contract Jay and team continued to support us every step of the way. At this point, Jay introduced us to our transaction coordinator, Devon Hammerlink. Devon is exceptionally organized and responsive in helping the buyer navigate all pre-closing tasks. Whenever we had a question, Devon had an answer! She was a joy to work with and went the extra mile in making sure we remained on schedule with our close.

As remote buyers from out-of-state, we relied on Jay and Devon to be our eyes and ears on the ground. They coordinated and attended the inspection, introduced us to our financing team, scheduled a remote notary to come to our house for closing, and helped coordinate our use of a service provider to support service setup and utilities transfer. Literally, for every action we needed to take, Jay and Devon provided support and offered a ready solution! Jay and Devon make the buying process simple and enjoyable! They...