Who is Chuck Marunde really? I am Chuck Marunde, and I thought it would be helpful to all my prospective buyer clients out there in “Sequim WA” and around the United States to learn more about me on a personal level, apart from my formal online profile which you can read at Chuck Marunde Profile.
You may know me as a Sequim real estate buyer’s agent or a Sequim real estate author and blogger and videographer. I am those things, but I want my prospective clients to know more about me. On my profile link you can learn about my legal background, my decades in real estate, my real estate blog, videos, books, and all the criteria that have helped me become a top producing buyer’s agent in the Sequim area. In this brief article, I want to reflect on a side of me you might not learn until you meet me and work with me.
On my pilgrimage I discovered in Fairbanks, Alaska where I first became a licensed agent, how much I loved real estate, and so I went to law school to specialize in real estate. I practiced real estate law for 20 years, but grew weary of lying attorneys and a tragically broken justice system where it’s a flip of the coin even if you have all the facts and law on your side. So it really was an easy decision for me to retire from law practice and activate my real estate broker’s license. About a dozen years ago I did that, and have been building a massive online presence for buyers.
Chuck Marunde is Having Too Much Fun. I love sharing what I learned over my career in real estate, so I do that now by giving all that knowledge and experience away free on the Internet in the form of over 2,000 real estate blog articles, hundreds of videos for buyers, and I’ve written many paperback and Kindle books for buyers, and I’ve created some audiobook versions. (You can look up my real estate books on Amazon under “Chuck Marunde”. You can also find my Youtube channel with a Youtube search for “Chuck Marunde”.) For me writing is fun, creating and editing the videos is fun, and working with my clients who retire and buy a home in Sequim is the fulfillment of my life long work. I get tremendous satisfaction out of helping my buyers, and I honestly think I can do a better job for them than any other local Realtor, especially because I am an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent. Honestly, the vast majority of real estate brokers get their licenses at the end of unrelated careers or to “earn some extra money,” or as a hobby. Not me. Real estate has been my life. I loved being a real estate attorney, a real estate broker in Alaska, a real estate escrow (closing) officer, and I love being a real estate agent in Washington, particularly a Sequim real estate broker.
Chuck Marunde Helps Buyers Win in The Sequim Real Estate Market
The especially fun part for me is that I bring all this to the table for my buyers, but I do not make my clients sign a buyer’s agency agreement, nor do I charge them any fee to represent them as their buyer’s agent. I get paid half the commission out of the seller’s total commission paid at closing. At the same time, my buyers and I get to work together with a big advantage going up against far less experienced Realtors, and we get to beat up on the seller while the seller actually pays my commission at closing. I like to say, “It just doesn’t seem fair, does it?” Of course, my buyers love it because it’s very advantageous to them.
Chuck Marunde clients: My buyers are typically not just happy by the time we get to closing, they are giddy. Why do I share that? Because for a very significant percentage of the time, that is not the case for many Realtors. I have said in my books that the single most important decision a buyer makes when they decide to move to Sequim WA and buy a retirement home is who they will hire as their Exclusive Buyer’s Agent. You already understand why I think Chuck Marunde (that would be me) would be a good choice, but far too many buyers do not know the importance of NOT hiring the wrong broker.
Since this is a personal note, I will share that my biggest frustration is not dealing with clients. I love my clients and get along with them fabulously. And if you view just some of my client reviews, you’ll see that this feeling is mutual. [See Chuck Marunde Reviews on my Google Business Page which is “iRealty Virtual Brokers“. You can also do a fun Google search for “Chuck Marunde” and see what you get.] My biggest challenge is not negotiating or drafting offers, counteroffers, and addendums, and my biggest challenge isn’t tracking all the deadlines and helping to keep my clients on track and out of trouble. I admit without hesitation that I am darn good at all of that. You would expect your agent to be, but believe me- not all are.
Chuck Marunde Doesn’t Create Nightmare Scenarios–He Solves Them
Chuck Marunde helps his clients avoid problems and nightmares, not create them. People call me regularly with nightmare scenarios in which they hired another broker to represent them, and they are in deep trouble, according to them because their broker didn’t represent them well on a due diligence issue, misrepresented something (yea, this actually happens), or was plain incompetent or unprofessional. I always have to tell them I cannot help them. I can’t get in the middle of a client-broker relationship. Can you imagine retiring to your dream community with visions of a happy life and hobbies and a peaceful lifestyle only to end up in a nightmare because you hired the wrong real estate broker. I’m telling you this happens a lot, and the only reason I mention it is because most buyers have no idea that the first most important decision they make is who they hire to represent them as their buyer’s agent.
I get along just great with almost 100% of the local real estate brokers, but we have a few who are incredibly arrogant and will pretend to tell me how to legally interpret contract language. I know they know I was a real estate lawyer, and I never ask, because it would be rude, but I sometimes want to say when they are terribly wrong about an immature legal opinion, “What law school did you go to?” I don’t do that. I’m diplomatic and explain the language, and I’m very patient with agents who think they know everything but are ignorant. But why is it that we seem to be living in a time when no one will admit they are wrong, and on top of that, why is it that there’s this disease going around called “narcissistic personality disorder?” Have you noticed this, too?
Where is wisdom today? Where is common sense? Where is humility? My biggest challenge in this job is not my clients and not the details of the work–it is dealing with brokers who are incompetent or unprofessional and on top of that, arrogant. This is very personal, but I wanted you to understand what you’re up against as a buyer when you come to Sequim, hire a buyer’s agent, and have that agent represent you. If you got all the phone calls I have gotten from unhappy clients who hired the few incompetent brokers out there, and if you dealt with some of the nonsense I have to deal with, you would understand how PARAMOUNT it is that you hire the right buyer’s agent. And that person does not have to be me. My argument is not that you have to hire me. It is that you should do your due diligence, and most importantly do not hire the less qualified. How’s that for polite? LOL
Chuck Marunde Protects His Sequim Real Estate Buyers
I won’t tell you how many times the seller’s listing agents have tried to cut off my buyer’s ability to complete their due diligence as if they were afraid of my client finding out something bad and terminating the transaction. I recently had a buyer who needed 18 days to complete his home inspection, because of the Covid-19 shut down and the holidays and because all the good home inspectors were booked for weeks in advance. The minimum my buyer needed was 18 days, and the listing agent actually countered with only 10 days, which they must have known was not enough time to complete a home inspection. It turned out that there were numerous serious defects with the property. Who I ask was trying to hide that from my buyer? Why would a listing agent be afraid of allowing the buyer sufficient time for a home inspection? In another case the listing agent tried to sell my buyer a property without enough water for the house, and we found out she knew there was not enough water from that shared well, but intentionally misrepresented that so my buyer would close. Alas, I protected my buyer and helped them terminate the contract and get their earnest money back. The public has no idea how much truth is in the old latin phrase, “Caveat Emptor,” or “Let the Buyer Beware!,” until they get caught up in their own nightmare.
I think one thing other Realtors know about me after 26 years in Sequim is that Chuck Marunde will not compromise the truth or what is right, and they are not going to take advantage of my clients. I’ve seen shady practices, and I’ve seen Realtors try to pull the wool over me and my buyers, but it doesn’t work. After 20 years of law practice, I have some discernment in this area. This is true for Sequim real estate and Port Angeles real estate, or homes in any of our neighboring towns.
Chuck Marunde’s last personal note is this. I believe in honesty, integrity, loyalty, commitment, diligence, perseverance, and hard work. I am a patriotic American, and I’m not ashamed of the fact that I’m a Christian. My personal religious and political views have nothing to do with our real estate transaction, and clients don’t typically discuss those kinds of personal opinions. You’re looking for a highly competent real estate broker, and hopefully these other attributes are important to you, too. They certainly are to me, and I live by them.
I always recommend that buyers do their due diligence for a Sequim buyer’s agent, and you can do that online absolutely free. You can also call me and interview me, and I love to have those conversations. There is not a single question I won’t answer for you, and that includes both in my business life and in my personal life. I have nothing to hide, and I want you to know me if I am going to represent you in one of the biggest financial transactions of your life, and in what may be the biggest and last transition in your life as you retire here.
Chuck Marunde Passions: I’m very passionate about what I do, and my commitment to my clients is unqualified. There isn’t anything I won’t do to help you if it is in my power to do so. I also take great pleasure in helping my clients make this exciting move to Sequim, and I help them to do so without drama and without unnecessary stress. Like Michael Jordan who made basketball look so easy, I try to make your entire real estate transaction go smoothly, and make it look easy, even though it never is. Behind every transaction is a lifetime of sweat and blood working for you and your best interests.
I’m Chuck Marunde, and I approve this message.
Last Updated on December 31, 2020 by Chuck Marunde
