Why Sellers Choose Us
   Sausalito, Corte Madera, and Mill Valley Real Estate Brokers

Madeline Schaider, Marin County Real Estate Buyer and Seller Broker for 20 years

Selling a home takes sales skills. We show your home first to our company and other top agents from different real estate companies who know your neighborhood. If they are excited about your property, their customers are going to be interested.

Listing in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS):
As a member of the Marin MLS, we list your home there immediately. This is the bible of all professional real estate agents, and it is where they look every morning for the perfect homes for their clients. Our local MLS covers Sonoma, Solano, and Napa Counties. We can easily list your home in other counties, including San Francisco.

Listing on the Internet

Your home receives immediate and wide exposure on our highly acclaimed website. The Internet is a prominent source of homes for many buyers; especially those who live outside of the Bay Area. We do it right: people find our web site easily and they contact us about our listings! First, we show your home on this web site and we advertise this listing to our large email list. Then we advertise your house on several important public sites:

In addition, we can add your home to a variety of other National and International listing sites.

We supply our listings with attractive photos and can provide Virtual Tours for a broader view of your home.

Just Listed Cards

All of the people in your neighborhood receive Just Listed cards announcing the sale of your home before the first open house. This alerts the larger neighborhood of the sale; they tell their friends who may be interested in a new home.

Signs and Notices

We post a street sign and flier box near your home before the first open house, advertising that it is for sale. You'll be surprised at how many people hear about your home this way.

Open Houses for the Real Estate Community

Open houses for real estate agents and brokers are held on the first two weeks of your listing (on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the location), then as often as needed. We will cater these events to enhance your home's initial showing to real estate agents.

Professional Flier

We prepare a flier or small brochure describing your home. This is most useful as a reminder for buyers who have already seen your home. We also provide a brochure box that is attached to the yard sign, for people who are passing by your neighborhood. Many people will stop in their cars to get a flier. We often distribute this flier to real estate offices throughout the Bay Area.

Financing Flier

With the assistance of one of our professional mortgage brokers, we provide a sample of what a buyer will have to pay if they are the lucky purchaser of your home. This includes monthly outlay, down payment, and closing costs, plus a variety of different loan options with the current interest rates.

Property Booklet

This booklet, provided by the title company, includes information on the local schools, a parcel map, the seller's tax information, area map, and information on completing an escrow. We leave this booklet at your listing for prospective buyers.

Advertising Brings People to your Door

Ads in the Marin Independent Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner are essential to attract people to the open houses that we hold for you on Sunday afternoons. Even buyers who have an agent searching for their next home read these ads to see if anything catches their interest. We use magazine ads as needed.

Showing your Property to the Public

The more available a property is for buyers to see, the faster it sells. We can customize the showing plan to fit your needs and to assure that your home gets shown in the best way. For example, we can supply a lock box or show your home by appointment only with a Madeline Schaider Real Estate agent present to give a personal tour of your home.

Sunday afternoon is a convenient time for many buyers to see your home, so we hold an Open House as often as necessary from 1 or 2 till 4 PM. We make open houses as convenient as possible for you and your family. These events are advertised in the Marin and San Francisco newspapers.

Showing your House

Showing your house is like preparing for your most-anticipated guest. Even though you are about to leave this house, it should make a statement that you are proud to live there. Here are a few ideas and guidelines to help you with the last minute preparations.

Clean and Organize!

Have the house sparkle. Hire your cleaning person more often during the listing period and especially before the first open houses. Don't forget to clean the windows and carpets; this makes a big difference!

Arrange furniture (or put some in storage) so that it emphasizes spaciousness. Unclutter. In a Buyer’s market, it is often important to hire a professional stager to make your house stand out. This can make a difference between receiving offers or not.

Clean and organize kitchen cabinets, linen closets and clothes closets. Buyers do look into closets, and you want them to smile!

Welcome Real Estate Agents

If you have a lock box on your property, change the greeting on your answering machine or voice mail welcoming agents with their client. Ask them to please leave a time they are showing the house. The easier it is for real estate agents to see your home, the faster it will sell.

Personal Care and Interest Makes the Difference

We take our clients personally--We never take clients just for the sake of collecting a fee. We get involved in your life just enough to ensure that you have a remarkable real estate transaction. Some of our clients stay in touch with us for many years; others leave the area knowing that they have had the best. We always end a transaction with the certainty that our client’s needs and desires have been met.