Are you buying a home or selling yours? Either way, you want to be able to get the best deal right? A good real estate agent might just give you that and more. He or she can help you buy your dream house or sell your existing home quickly. The bigger problem is, among all the agents out there claiming to have the ability to give you what you want and need, who will you most likely trust?
Many buyers and sellers give little thought on choosing an a good real estate agent. It is certainly possible for us to access online real estate information to make our lives easier instead, don’t you agree? However, the internet does not actually help you in choosing the right real estate agent to work with, it just gives you a long and exhausting list. That’s what we are here for: let’s see what a good real estate agent should be.
We advice that you get recommendations from acquaintances who have recently bought or sold a home as your initial step. List them down, and, once you have your candidates, you may start reviewing their past performance. Why should you? Well, past performances have been shown to be highly correlated to success in the future. Do remember that a realtor’s years of experience should always be identified too. Some say that a realtor with less than five years of experience is someone who is still testing the waters.
Next step: on your list, see which agents are buying and selling the most homes in your neighborhood. You can do this by reading online reviews but remember to not completely rely on them since most clients do not write reviews at all. If the clients happen to have written something, they usually leave out a lot of important information. Directly interviewing their recent clients is also not a bad idea. In addition, having excellent peer reviews is also a plus. A “Realtor of the Year” designation awarded by the state or local branch of NAR definitely means good past performance.
Interview three to four agents but make sure that all the agents you are considering specializes in the kind of property you really want to purchase. Next, look up your state’s regulatory board and check if your potential real estate agents are really licensed and if there have been any previous disciplinary actions. Also, check to see their credentials: you would want real estate agents with titles such as Certified Residential Specialist, Accredited Buyer’s Representative, and Seniors Real Estate Specialist, to name a few.
Have you narrowed down your list yet? Don’t be afraid to ask questions to your candidates. Things such as the number of listings the agent has and the actual number of homes he or she has sold in your area are really important pieces of information you can obtain by asking them directly. What’s important is to take your time in choosing a goof real estate agent. Your relationship with him or her is most likely a long-term and trusting one. If it doesn’t start out good, then it’s probably not going to improve.
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