Allison Smith

I worked with Allison from September 2011 through February 2012 while I searched for a home to buy. She worked out of the South Minneapolis Edina Realty branch.
As a buyer’s agent, Allison is great for first time, young buyers like myself. She is very down to earth and practical. She won’t immediately try to impress you by telling you all of her amazing sales stats (although I’m absolutely positive hers are excellent) and she won’t try to foist her personal tastes into the property search.
As you might imagine, being a first-​time home buyer seems like a very overwhelming task. I had plenty of questions about everything throughout the five months we worked together. She was able to answer all of them or find someone who could!
I was looking at properties in a very specific market: the south Twin Cities metro, under $ 85k, avoiding short sale properties, and in move-​in ready condition. Extremely tough. We submitted serious offers on four properties and saw countless others. Anytime I wanted a second, early morning showing at a property Allison was there. She’ll work with you on anything and is totally focused on your preferences.
But most importantly, Allison is throughly professional. Between loan officers, title agents, seller’s agents, seller’s, and an inexperienced, cranky, picky buyer– Allison was the glue that held every deal together and the boost to get over every hurdle (and there were many). She went far beyond her duties as a realtor and would happily act as an intermediary to take care of business that, frankly, I should’ve been doing myself, and that other realtors might have rejected. Many times she acted as a sounding board for my gripes and complaints about everyone else involved in the process. Instead of working with an easier client whom could have earned her more commission, she remained dedicated to the search.
I was completely satisfied with Allison as my realtor.
Other useful information for Unilocalers:
Allison works a second job, so some mid-​week days in the evenings conflict with her schedule. She is very upfront about this. Also, she may sometimes request to bring her young daughter to a showing; she is very well behaved and adorable! She always asked if this was okay and never simply showed up with her.
I’m not sure if it’s customary for realtors to drive you to showings in their car. During our first run of showings, she requested if it would be okay if I drove myself. I did happily then and throughout our five months of working together as a personal preference. I’m sure she would’ve been happy to accommodate me, but I never asked. May be something you want to consider!