Montreal native Sarah Desamours moved to South Florida in 2014 to be near family. She wanted to use a real estate agent to find a place to rent, but she struggled to get a return call.
Later, looking to invest in rentals, Desamours found an agent, but that didn't go well either.
"It was terrible," she told Homes.com. "He wasn't communicating."
The two experiences left Desamours feeling that she could do the job much better, prompting her to get a real estate license and leave her position as a mortgage specialist in the banking industry.
She joined Keller Williams in Miami, where she earned the brokerage's rookie of the year award for 2016. Desamours later joined Douglas Elliman before becoming one of the first agents at Compass in Miami in 2018. After leaving Compass for two years to market a new construction project, Desamours returned to the agency last year.
At Compass, she and business partner Dimitri Joseph head SD Group, a five-person team that works with buyers, sellers, renters and investors. To help build her book of business, Desamours uses social media, estimating she gets 60% of her clients from LinkedIn and Instagram.
Buyers gaining leverage
When working with buyers, she said, many who are new to South Florida make the mistake of focusing on the home and its list price without bothering to factor in such expenses as property taxes and insurance.
"If the house is in a flood zone, that could be super expensive," said Desamours, who lives in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood. "The location of the house dictates so much about the total cost."
With listings on the rise in Miami and across the country, buyers are enjoying the kind of leverage they haven't had since before the pandemic started in 2020, she and other real estate agents say.
While it's true that today's buyers generally are more discriminating and insist on move-in-ready homes, that's not always the case, she said. Some buyers, particularly millennials, don't mind putting work into the house to personalize it, but they don't want to have to undertake a total renovation, according to Desamours.
Though home inspections are mostly a tool buyers use after they sign the sales contract, she recommends her sellers get an inspection before they list their house. If they find their house needs repairs they can't afford, sellers can turn to a program called Compass Concierge that fronts them the money that can be repaid out of their proceeds at closing, she said.
Those who use the program typically end up selling their homes for more money, according to Desamours. "Sellers that are open to it and who listen, they do very well," she said.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What's your house like?
I have a three-bedroom, 2.5-bath townhouse. It's modern, but it has character.
What's your favorite spot in the home and why?
I have a bedroom that I use as my workspace. It's the sunniest place in the whole house. It's my sanctuary. There's such good energy in that room.
What would you change about your home and why?
Coconut Grove is known for its nature. I'd love a little more [tree] coverage, a bigger canopy, in my yard so I could use that outdoor space to host more parties.
What's the most bizarre thing that has happened to you on the job?
I can't believe I'm telling you this story. A client of mine had a short-term rental, and people reached out to me to rent the property. They were willing to pay double what we were asking. They said it was for a religious holiday. We rented the house, and I was on an airplane sitting on the tarmac, and my client called and asked, 'What are they doing to the house?' I said, 'What do you mean?' She could see on her camera there were a bunch of cars and trucks bringing in camels and circus animals. My client put a stop to it.
