- 18 February, 2006 -

Selling a home privately can seem like an intimidating task. It's easy to sign on the dotted line and let someone else take it on. However, it is possible to sell your home privately and still have someone there every step of the way, to prepare advertisements, list the property on a website that gets over 12 million hits every month, and save thousands of dollars. Norm Hanley is the PropertyGuys.com franchise owner and sales manager for the west coast of British Columbia. If enthusiasm alone sold properties, this is the guy to call. He and Vanessa Kalawarny, who is a sales associate and manager, run the business from their home office in Powell River. Norm has lived in Powell River for over 20 years. One day he went to work and was told his position in the mill was eliminated. Norm began to look for a new opportunity?something he could get excited about. When he heard about PropertyGuys.com, he knew this was it. PropertyGuys.com was started by four young men from Moncton, New Brunswick in 1995. After seeing homemade for sale signs on front lawns, they decided to combine their talents and education and help homeowners sell their own homes successfully. Now PropertyGuys.com is Canada's largest private selling network with offices from coast to coast and many more offices opening to provide localized service throughout Canada. Selling a $200,000 home can mean $10,000 in real estate commissions. Norm says between him and Vanessa, they could have bought a house with all the money they've paid in real estate commissions over the years. "We want to help property owners keep that money for themselves." Vanessa says some people are nervous about selling their own home. "That's why we're here," she says. "We do everything we can to make it easier." Norm purchased the PropertyGuys.com franchise for Powell River and the Sunshine Coast and it grew from there. He and Vanessa bought several more franchises and now their territory includes most of the west coast. Powell River will be the western coastal head office for their franchises. They have just hired five sales associates and plan to hire more soon to provide local service in each area. When a person is thinking about selling their properties, a PropertyGuys.com sales associate will be happy to visit them with no obligation. Norm would also like to work with home or land developers to advertise and showcase their properties for them at much lower costs than conventional real estate. Residential listing packages start at a low $449 for the base package, which includes everything needed to sell properties. Services like highly visible professional signage, feature sheets, data entry, still photos and virtual tours are all provided and installed for the customer. The elite package includes added features such as free legal advice, local print advertising, and much more. There's also a 100 per cent money back guarantee. "People find it hard to believe there's no commission," Vanessa says. "All they pay is one low fee and we're there with them every step of the way." You don't need a computer in order to sell your home," Norm says. "We'll do all the advertising, professional signage, still-picture shoot, virtual-tour shoot and everything we can to get maximum exposure for your property, including two week follow-ups." If a potential buyer has an inquiry an email can be forwarded directly to the owner, eliminating the middleman, using their exclusive email connect system. There is also a free service to anyone visiting the www.propertyguys.com website called the Buyers' Club that provides anyone with up to date listing alerts. Vanessa says, "The feedback we're receiving from satisfied customers is fantastic." She says one customer was so excited about saving potentially $30,000 in real estate fees by using PropertyGuys.com that he is recommending it to everyone. "We understand that this isn't for everybody," Vanessa says. "Homeowners have to be prepared to show their home, but then who's better to show your house than you, the owner?" She says one of the things she didn't like was having to leave her home, sometimes with short notice, when it was being shown to a prospective buyer. "It's not hard to sell your own home," Norm says. "We give the property owner whatever help they need to be successful. We help from start to completion of sale of their properties with no sale commissions and no other extra charges." Norm and Vanessa say they are excited about helping people save money and welcome the opportunity to discuss the services they offer. Readers can contact them at 604.414.9348 or visit their website at www.propertyguys. com

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