Home buyers and sellers are looking for even more these days in a Realtor and rightly so. As the real estate market continues to go through rapid change, it’s become more important that ever before to insure you’re working with the right agent. We’ve provided an educational post on how to pick a good Realtor in today’s market. After all, no one wants to get stuck with a rotten apple…
First, it’s important that you know an agent is bound by certain legal obligations. These common-law obligations are to…
- Put the client’s interests above anyone else’s
- Keep the client’s information confidential
- Obey the client’s lawful instructions
- Report to the client anything that would be useful
- Account to the client for any money involved.
In making your decision to work with an agent, there are certain questions you should ask when evaluating a potential agent to hire. The first question you should ask is whether the agent is a REALTOR® . Realtors are members of the National Association of Realtors which hold agents to the highest standard.
Agents are often chosen solely on the recommendation of a friend, marketing sent to your home or by way of an ad in the newspaper. But just as every home won’t be the perfect match for you, you’re also not going to find that perfect match in every realtor. With that, you should always take the time to interview a few before you sign papers with one. Let’s face it, choosing the right agent can save you time, effort and aggravation in finding the perfect home at a price you can afford or selling your home quickly for top dollar. This is likely one of the most important purchases or sales in a persons life. It comes down to trust – if trust can be a hard thing to find, than it’s best to spend a little time looking for it.
When considering an agent or during the interview process, study what makes them different and a good fit for you. Here’s a dozen important questions that will help…
- Does the agent have an active real estate license in good standing? To find this information, you can check with your state’s governing agency.
- Does the agent belong to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and/or a reliable online home buyer’s search service? Multiple Listing Services are cooperative information networks of REALTORS® that provide descriptions of most of the houses for sale in a particular region.
- Is real estate their full-time career?
- What real estate designations does the agent hold?
- In exchange for your commitment, how will the agent help you accomplish your goals?
- Are they providing YOU value, services that are helpful to YOUR needs, will their experience help YOU benefit?
- Are they professional, respectful and addressing your questions, needs and concerns because they’re listening to YOU?
- Are they prepared, providing you with helpful material to purchase a home or samples of their marketing and how they’d sell yours?
- Will they show you all the homes that meet YOUR requirements?
- Do they have MLS stats showing how many homes they’ve sold (Overall, this year, in your price range, area, neighborhood, etc.)
- Are they active in YOUR market, offer experience and even a proven track record that you can depend on?
- Are they sincere about helping YOU, even if they have to tell you something you may not want to hear?
A good real estate agent will be prepared to assist your needs and demonstrate integrity, professionalism, respect for you and fellow agents, enthusiasm, experience, good communication, skill sets, a strong reputation, and a defined ability to help you. They understand the seriousness of going over details and are more than happy to answer any of your questions at a pace that you are comfortable with. The best Realtor is able to offer these services and more while working at all times to provide the best possible customer service.
A good agent won’t be in it for themselves, over sell their services, be hard to reach, not take responsibility, put other agents down, de-value the services or reputation of others in the attempt to make themselves look better. Any sign that there may be lack in principles is for sure asking for big trouble in any real estate transaction. We encourage you to take a deeper look when choosing the very best agent to hire – Hire the professional who understands YOUR needs and offers the very best ability to serve them.
The Gardner Team offers the best of both worlds, a refressing approach with leading results. We’d love to interview with you, please call us directly at 971-832-1234
