American Home Shield® goes above and beyond for real estate professionals, their clients and the industry at large
For Andre Kocher, a REALTOR® with The Kocher Team at Keller Williams Realty in Flower Mound, Texas, establishing strategic relationships is key when it comes to going above and beyond for buyers and sellers alike.
Covering the entire Dallas-Fort Worth marketplace, an area that encompasses 50-plus cities, The Kocher Team—a group of seven—closed 175 deals in 2017.
According to Kocher, a key component of the team’s success over the years boils down to taking the time to ensure that each and every client is educated in regard to the advantages associated with home warranties, like those provided by American Home Shield® (AHS®).
“When my wife and I jumped into the business and decided to form a team 15 years ago, we wanted to establish relationships with a variety of vendors, and AHS has proven to be a good fit,” says Kocher, who goes on to explain that their relationship with Sheila Fitzgerald—their local AHS service representative—has continued to grow and evolve from the get-go.
“We have a great relationship with Sheila,” says Kocher. “In addition to attending monthly meetings within the office, she is very responsive and can always be reached via phone, email or text whenever she’s needed.”
Relationships aside, home warranty coverage through AHS can also help minimize a homeowner’s exposure to unforeseen and untimely failures of covered system components or appliances—a boon to clients across the board, no matter the real estate environment.
“While it’s standard practice in the state of Texas for a seller to pay for a one-year home warranty, when meeting with buyers, we present them with a homebuyer’s guide that includes a brochure with information related to the home warranty options they have access to,” says Kocher. “On the flip side, when listing a house, the sellers listing coverage that AHS offers is an additional selling point.”
With a nationwide network of over 13,000 independent professional contractors ready to receive service requests 24/7—98 percent of which are dispatched to local contractors within 24 hours—AHS’ longstanding stature in the industry is yet another point of differentiation.
“The fact that AHS is one of the largest home warranty providers around gives them a lot of credibility,” says Kocher. “They also do a lot of advertising, so their messaging is constantly in front of prospective buyers and sellers when they turn on the television.”
For more information, please visit www.ahs.com/realestate.
Paige Tepping is RISMedia’s managing editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at paige@rismedia.com. For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.
