Introduction

Selling a home in Whittier is a big deal, financially, emotionally, and logistically. The agent you choose to list and sell your home will shape the entire experience, from how your home is priced and presented to how offers get negotiated and how smoothly (or not) things close. That choice matters more than most sellers realize until they're in the middle of it.

This guide walks through ten criteria worth evaluating before you hire anyone. Not a vague top-ten list but actual, specific things to look for and concrete questions to ask during the interview. Whether you're selling a family home, navigating a probate or trust situation, or finally making that long-planned move, these are the things that separate a genuinely skilled listing agent from one who just looks good on paper.

This guide was put together by Michele Jonietz, a REALTOR® with Seven Gables Real Estate, based in Whittier and serving greater Los Angeles and Orange County. Michele specializes in life-transition real estate, the sales that tend to be the most complex and the most personal and she's built her practice around making those transactions feel a whole lot more manageable than clients expected.

Criterion 1: Local Market Expertise

You want an agent who actually knows Whittier,  not just Southern California in general, but the specific neighborhoods, price patterns, buyer demand, and quirks that affect how homes move here. In a market where a few blocks can mean a meaningful difference in what buyers will pay and how fast things sell, general knowledge isn't enough. You need someone who can speak to your specific street, your specific property type, and what buyers in this area are actually doing right now.

Ask: "How many homes have you listed and sold in Whittier in the past twelve months, and how did your listings perform compared to the area's average days on market?"

Criterion 2: Track Record and Recent Transactions

Volume matters, but context matters more. An experienced agent who sells homes in Whittier regularly should be able to walk you through specific recent transactions, not just a general sense of how busy they've been. You also want their experience to line up with your situation. Selling a probate property is different from selling a straightforward equity sale. An agent who's handled both knows things that only come from doing the work.

Ask: "Can you walk me through the last three homes you listed in Whittier or nearby, the original list price, the final sale price, and how long they took to sell?"

Criterion 3: Pricing Strategy and CMA Approach

Pricing is where listings succeed or fail. An agent who prices your home too high to win your listing will cost you time, momentum, and potentially money when you have to reduce later. A trusted listing agent will give you an honest number backed by real data, comparable sales, current inventory, absorption rates, and an honest assessment of your home's condition. It should feel like a conversation grounded in facts, not flattery.

Ask: "Walk me through how you build a comparative market analysis — what data do you rely on, and how do you factor in the condition and unique features of my home?"

Criterion 4: Marketing Plan and Property Exposure

A yard sign and an MLS listing aren't a marketing plan. Top listing agents come to the table with a real strategy,  professional photography, targeted digital advertising, social media, open houses, and often pre-market or off-market exposure through their brokerage network. Ask for specifics. A good agent should be able to tell you exactly what they'll do, when, and how they'll know it's working.

Ask: "What does your marketing plan for my home look like, and how do you make sure it's reaching the buyers most likely to make an offer?"

Criterion 5: Negotiation Skills and Style

Every sale has a negotiation moment,  sometimes several. Offers, counteroffers, inspection findings, appraisal gaps. How your agent handles those moments directly affects your outcome. You're not just looking for someone who's confident; you want someone who's trained, strategic, and steady under pressure. An agent who's earned a Real Estate Negotiation Expert (RENE) certification has put real work into developing those skills.

Ask: "Can you walk me through a recent negotiation that got difficult and tell me how you handled it on your seller's behalf?"

Criterion 6: Communication and Responsiveness

This one shows up in almost every client review, good and bad. When your home is on the market, you need to know what's happening. Prompt, consistent communication isn't a bonus feature; it's part of the job. In a fast-moving market like Whittier and greater Los Angeles, the window on offers can close quickly, and an agent who's slow to respond can cost you real opportunities. Set the expectation upfront and see how they answer.

Ask: "How often will I hear from you once my home is listed, and what's your typical response time when I reach out with a question?"

Criterion 7: Verified Reviews and References

Anyone can claim they're great. Reviews from real clients are a different thing. Read them carefully — not just the star rating, but what people actually say. Look for patterns. Do multiple reviewers mention that the agent communicates well? That they stayed calm when things got complicated? That they made a stressful process feel manageable? An agent with consistent five-star reviews across different transaction types — estate sales, probate situations, first-time buyers — is showing you something real.

Ask: "Can I speak with two or three past clients, ideally someone who sold a home in a situation similar to mine?"

Criterion 8: Professional Credentials and Certifications

Certifications aren't just résumé decoration, they represent actual training in specific skills. The Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABR) designation gives an agent a deeper understanding of what buyers are thinking, which directly helps when positioning a listing. The Real Estate Negotiation Expert (RENE) certification means advanced negotiation training. The First Time Buyer Specialist (FTBS) and Real Estate Investing (REI) certifications expand an agent's ability to connect with the full range of buyers active in Whittier and Orange County.

Ask: "Which certifications do you hold, and what's one concrete way each one has changed how you approach selling a home?"

Criterion 9: Network of Trusted Vendors and Service Providers

Getting a home ready to sell almost always involves other people, inspectors, contractors, stagers, photographers, escrow officers, and sometimes attorneys or financial advisors. A local listing agent in Whittier with strong relationships with reliable vendors makes your life easier. This matters even more in estate, probate, or trust sales, where there's often deferred maintenance, personal property to sort through, or legal complexity layered on top of everything else. You want an agent who doesn't just hand you a list — someone who actively helps coordinate.

Ask: "What vendors do you regularly work with to prepare a listing, and how involved are you in coordinating that process for your sellers?"

Criterion 10: Transparent Process and Honest Expectations

The best agents are straight with you, even when the news isn't what you hoped to hear. That means an honest opinion on pricing, a realistic timeline, and a clear explanation of what could go sideways and why. Sellers who feel blindsided at closing almost always say the same thing: their agent never told them that could happen. Making the process feel simple doesn't mean hiding the complexity, it means managing it well.

Ask: "What's the most common reason a Whittier listing doesn't go the way the seller expected, and how do you try to prevent that?"

Why Sellers in Whittier Choose Michele Jonietz

If you've made it through this guide, you know what to look for. Here's how Michele measures up, not as a pitch, but as an honest summary.

Michele Jonietz is a REALTOR® with Seven Gables Real Estate and has lived in Whittier for more than 30 years. She knows this market the way you only can when it's genuinely home. Her certifications: ABR, RENE, FTBS, and REI, shape how she prices homes, negotiates offers, and identifies the right buyers. She's been recognized as a Top Producer at the Seven Gables Real Estate Tustin Office in December 2024 and March 2025, and received the brokerage's Amazing Climb Recognition in 2025 for doubling her year-over-year production. Before real estate, Michele spent more than 25 years owning and operating two Los Angeles salons — which means she already knew how to run a business, manage finances, and take care of clients through complicated situations before she ever sold a house.

Her specialty is life-transition real estate, the sales that tend to be emotionally layered and logistically complex. She's handled off-market probate sales involving reverse mortgages and out-of-state heirs, trust sales requiring coordination across multiple trustees, investment property transactions, and first-time buyers stepping into homeownership. Her five-star Google reviews consistently mention the same things: she responds quickly, explains everything clearly, never makes clients feel rushed, and stays steady when things get hard.

If you're ready to talk to an agent who checks every box in this guide, reach out to Michele Jonietz at Seven Gables Real Estate for a complimentary, no-obligation listing consultation. DRE# 02202345.

You may not want to put your homebuying plans into hibernation mode this winter. While a lot of people assume spring is the ideal time to buy a house, new data shows January may actually be the best time of year for budget-conscious buyers. 

Kind of surprising, right? Here’s why January deserves a serious look.

1. Prices Tend To Be Lower This Time of Year

Lending Tree says January is the least expensive month to buy a home. And there’s something to that. January has historically offered one of the lowest price-per-square-foot points of the entire year. But the spring? That’s when demand (and prices) usually peak. And that’s not speculation – it’s a well-known trend based on years of market data.

So, how much less are we talking? Here’s a look at the numbers. According to the last full year of data, for the typical 1,500 square foot house, buyers who closed on their home in January paid around $23,000 less compared to those who bought in May. And that general trend typically holds true each year (see chart below):

Now, your number is going to depend on the price, size, and type of the home you’re buying. But the trend is clear. For today’s buyers, it’s meaningful savings, especially when affordability is still tight for so many households.

2. Fewer Buyers and More Motivated Sellers 

And why do buyers typically save in the winter? It’s simple. Winter is one of the slowest times in the housing market each year. Both buyers and sellers tend to pull back, thinking it’s better to wait until spring. And that means:

• You face less competition

• You’re less likely to get into a multiple offer scenario

• Sellers are more willing to negotiate (since there aren’t as many buyers)

With fewer buyers in the market, you can take your time browsing.

But winter doesn’t just thin out the pool of buyers, it also reveals which sellers truly need to sell. Because fewer people are house hunting during the colder months, sellers who really need to move tend to be more open to negotiating. As Realtor.com explains:

“Less competition means fewer bidding wars and more power to negotiate the extras that add up: closing cost credits, home warranties, even repair concessions. . . these concessions can end up knocking thousands of dollars off the price of a home.”

This can include everything from price cuts to covering closing costs, adjusting timelines, and more. It doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get discounts on every home. But it does mean you’re more likely to be taken seriously and given room to negotiate.

Should You Wait for Spring?

Here’s the real takeaway. When you remove the pressure and frenzy that comes with the busy spring season, it becomes much easier to get the home you want at a price that fits your budget.

But if you wait until spring, more buyers will be in the market. So, waiting could actually mean you spend more and you’d have to deal with more stress.

Now, only you can decide the right timing for your life, but don’t assume you should wait for warmer weather before you move.

Buying in January gives you: less competition, potentially lower prices, and more motivated sellers. And those are three perks you’re not going to see if you wait until spring.

Bottom Line

If you’ve been thinking about taking the next step, this season might give you more opportunity than you think.

Curious what buying in January could look like for you? Give me a call and I can help you take a closer look at your numbers and the homes that are available in your area.

If your house is on the market but you haven’t gotten any offers you’re comfortable with, you may be wonderingThere’s a term for this in the industry, and it’s called an accidental landlord. Here’s how Yahoo Finance defines it:

“These ‘accidental landlords’ are homeowners who tried to sell but couldn’t fetch the price they wanted — and instead have decided to rent out their homes until conditions improve.”

Why This Is Happening More Often Right Now

And right now, the number of homeowners turning into accidental landlords is rising. Business Insider explains why:

“While there have always been accidental landlords . . . an era of middling home sales brought on by a steep rise in borrowing rates — is minting a new wave of reluctant rental owners.”

Basically, sales have slowed down as buyers struggle with today’s affordability challenges. And that’s leaving some homeowners with listings that sit and go stale. And if they don’t want to drop their price to try to appeal to buyers, they may rent instead.

But here’s the thing you need to remember if renting your house has crossed your mind. Becoming a landlord wasn’t your original plan, and there’s probably a reason for that. It comes with a lot more responsibility (and risk) than most people expect.

So, if you find yourself toying with that option, ask yourself these questions first:

1. Does Your House Have Potential as a Profitable Rental?

Just because you can rent it doesn’t mean you should. For example:

• Are you moving out of state? Managing maintenance from far away isn’t easy.

• Does the home need repairs before it’s rental-ready? And do you have the time or the funds for that?

• Is your neighborhood one that typically attracts renters, and would your house be profitable as one?

If any of those give you pause, it’s a sign selling might be the better move.

2. Are You Ready To Be a Landlord?

On paper, renting sounds like easy passive income. In reality, it often looks more like this:

• Midnight calls about clogged toilets or broken air conditioners

• Chasing down missed rent payments

• Damage you’ll have to fix between tenants

As Redfin notes:

“Landlords have to fix things like broken pipes, defunct HVAC systems, and structural damage, among other essential repairs. If you don’t have a few thousand dollars on hand to take care of these repairs, you could end up in a bind.”

3. Have You Thought Through the True Costs?

According to Bankrate, here are just a few of the hidden costs that come with renting out your home:

• A higher insurance premium (landlord insurance typically costs about 25% more)

• Management fees (if you use a property manager, they typically charge around 10% of the rent)

• Maintenance and advertising to find tenants

• Gaps between tenants, where you cover the mortgage without rental income coming in

All of that adds up, fast.

While renting can be a smart move for the right person with the right house, if you’re only considering it because your listing didn’t get traction, there may be a better solution: talking to your current agent and revisiting the pricing strategy on your house first.

With their advice you can rework your strategy, relaunch at the right price, and attract real buyers to make the sale happen.

Bottom Line

Before you decide to rent your house, make sure to carefully weigh the pros and cons of becoming a landlord. For some homeowners, the hassle (and the expense) may not be worth it. 

Mortgage rates are still a hot topic – and for good reason. After the most recent jobs report came out weaker than expected, the bond market reacted almost instantly. And, as a result, in early August mortgage rates dropped to their lowest point so far this year (6.55%)

While that may not sound like a big deal, pretty much every buyer has been waiting for rates to fall. And even a seemingly small drop like this reignites the hope we’re finally going to see rates trending down. But what’s realistic to expect?

According to the latest forecasts, rates aren’t expected to fall dramatically anytime soon. Most experts project they’ll stay somewhere in the mid-to-low 6% range through 2026 (see graph below):

In other words, no big changes are expected. But small shifts, like the one we just saw, are still likely. 

Each time there’s changing economic news, there’s a chance mortgage rates will react. And with so many reports coming out this week, we’ll get a better feeling of where the economy and inflation are headed – and how rates will respond.

What Rate Would Get Buyers Moving Again?

The magic number most buyers seem to be watching for is 6%. And it’s not just a psychological benchmark; it has real impact. A recent report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) says if rates reach 6%:

• 5.5 million more households could afford the median-priced home

• And roughly 550,000 people would buy a home within 12 to 18 months

That’s a lot of pent-up demand just waiting for the green light. And if you look back at the graph above, you’ll see Fannie Mae thinks we’ll hit that threshold next year. That raises an important question: Does it really make sense to wait for lower rates?

Because here’s the tradeoff. If you’re waiting for 6%, you need to realize a lot of other people are too. And when rates do continue to inch down and more buyers jump into the market all at once, you could face more competition, fewer choices, and higher home prices. NAR explains it like this:

“Home buyers wishing for lower mortgage interest rates may eventually get their wish, but for now, they’ll have to decide whether it’s better to wait or jump into the market.”

Consider the unique window that exists right now:

• Inventory is up = more choices

• Price growth has slowed down = more realistic pricing

• You may have more room to negotiate = you could get a better deal

These are all opportunities that will go away if rates fall and demand surges. That’s why NAR says:

“Buyers who are holding out for lower mortgage rates may be missing a key opening in the market.”

Bottom Line

Rates aren't expected to hit 6% this year. But when they do, you’ll have to deal with more competition as other buyers jump back in. If you want less pressure and more negotiating power, that opportunity is already here – and it might not last for long. It all depends on what happens in the economy next.

Talk to a local agent about what’s happening in your area and whether it makes sense to make your move now, before everyone else does.

It’s no surprise that the upcoming Presidential election might have you speculating about what’s ahead. And those unanswered thoughts can quickly spiral, causing fear and uncertainty to swirl through your mind. So, if you’ve been considering buying or selling a home this year, you’re probably curious about what the election might mean for the housing market – and if it’s still a good time to make your move.

Here’s the good news that may surprise you: typically, Presidential elections have only had a small, temporary impact on the housing market. But your questions are definitely worth answering, so you don’t have to pause your plans in the meantime.

Here’s a look at decades of data that shows exactly what’s happened to home sales, prices, and mortgage rates in previous Presidential election cycles, so you can move forward with the facts as you weigh the pros and cons of your homeownership decision.

Home Sales

In the month leading up to a Presidential election, from October to November, there’s typically a slight slowdown in home sales (see graph below):

Some consumers will simply wait it out before they make their purchase decision. However, it’s important to know this slowdown is small and temporary.

Historically, home sales bounce right back and continue to rise the following year.

In fact, data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows after 9 of the last 11 Presidential elections, home sales went up the year after the election, and it’s been happening consistently since the early 1990s (see chart below):

Home Prices

You may also be wondering about home prices. Do prices come down during election years? Not typically. As residential appraiser and housing analyst Ryan Lundquist notes:

“An election year doesn’t alter the price trend that is already happening in the market.”

Home prices generally rise over time, regardless of an election cycle. So, based on what history shows, you can expect the current pricing trend in your local market to likely continue, barring any unusual market or economic circumstances.

The latest data from NAR reveals that after 7 of the last 8 Presidential elections, home prices increased the following year (see chart below):

The one outlier was from 2008 to 2009, which was during the height of the housing market crash. That was certainly not a typical year. Today’s market, however, is much more resilient. And while prices are moderating nationally, they aren’t on an overall decline.

Mortgage Rates

And the third thing that’s likely on your mind is mortgage rates, since they impact your monthly payment if you’re financing a home. Looking at the last 11 Presidential election years, data from Freddie Mac shows mortgage rates decreased from July to November in 8 of them (see chart below):

And this year, we’ve already started to see that happen. Most experts also forecast mortgage rates will ease slightly throughout the rest of 2024. If that happens – and all signs right now indicate it should – this year will continue to follow the trend of declining rates. So, if you’re looking to buy a home in the coming months, this could be great news for your purchasing power.

What This Means for You

What’s the big takeaway? While Presidential elections do have some impact on the housing market, the effects are usually minimal. As Lisa Sturtevant, Chief Economist at Bright MLS, says:

“Historically, the housing market doesn’t tend to look very different in presidential election years compared to other years.”

For most buyers and sellers, elections don’t have a major impact on their plans.

Bottom Line

While it’s natural to feel a bit uncertain during an election year, history shows the housing market remains strong and resilient. And this means you don’t have to pause your plans in the meantime. For help navigating the market during this election cycle, let’s connect.