If you are looking for a real estate agent I recommend you first talk to your friends and family members and colleagues and ask them these can give you direct referrals.
since they are people you trust their agent qualities maybe similar to yours. These are the best people to shop around for an agent from before you go anywhere else. In this article I am going to tell you five things you need to know in how to find a Realtor?
Always keep in mind that choosing an agent (or broker, or Realtor) is like choosing a ship’s navigator. You are the captain but you need someone to help show you the way. You are on a journey together, so while technical competency is important, you should want to work together.
1. Word Of Mouth
Like I said above the best is to first check with your friends, family members and colleagues if they have used any agent that they may recommend you use. It is always the best to use someone who has had a history with someone you know than you start afresh with someone completely new.
Never use a discount brokerage or an agent who gives money back to you; they are inexperienced and shitty agents (I mean, they have to pay you to work with them and you get what you pay for). Go with an agent from a traditional brokerage.
2. Exclusive Buyers Agent
This is an agent that will represent you only as the buyer, this kind of agent never takes listings and, therefore, never represent the seller in a real estate transaction. These kinds of agents are the best because there is no conflict of interest trying to represent you the buyer and also the seller of the real estate.
These kinds of agents are extremely hard to find but they are worth the search if you find one.
3. Interview A Few Agents
When, you are interviewing agents make sure they are full time Realtor and don’t have other part-time jobs what so ever. It is so important they are doing real estate full time. Ensure they have at least 6-8 years experience.
New agents will lie about how much experience they have, so make sure to call their brokerage to confirm this.
Ask for 6-7 past references (past clients they have worked with) – ask for recent references and some from a few years ago, and actually call them.
When touring properties, a good agent will point out all the negatives about a house, and will make suggestions on what you can use as leverage when negotiating.
If the agent is pushy and doesn’t point out any negatives and just wants you to buy the home, walk away. If an agent makes you sign an agreement the first time or two you meet her, walk away or tell her no.
You should go out and look at homes a few times before signing anything to ensure you get a good feel for the agent and see how you like them.
They should be able to answer questions at great length with no hesitation. Make sure you connect with your agent and you can trust them. Make sure they have good reviews on Zillow.
Ask how many deals they are currently doing at the moment and who they’re representing their deals (buyer or seller). This is important because you don’t want to work with an agent who is juggling more than 6+ deals at a time; you want an agent who will be very responsive, give you their full attention, etc, .
Stay away from big banks and internet lenders; they are terrible and local lenders are the best. You can get a pre-approval from a local lender ). It’s best to go with the lender your agent recommends because she knows she can count on him and get the job done without any head aches. Just make sure she recommends a local mortgage lender
4. Don’t Go By Zillows Top Agents
You should keep in mind that Zillow’s top agents are not top agents but they are agents that pay to be on Zillow’s top agents list, before you engage any of them make sure you do your research, google them and do due diligence.
You wouldn’t want to start working with someone who is terrible and does not give you the time and the advice you are looking for, when purchasing a house
5. Google the top agents
in your area
Another way of finding an agent is searching on google. Searching on google the ten best agents in your area will help you get recommendations from other members of your community. When , you do this remember to read the reviews from people who might have worked with them.
Also, Snoop around on social media by searching “(your city) real estate agent. You should be able to Gage their personality from there. Also, see if they work with a team. If they do, meet the team, not just your agent, as you will be working with all of them and should feel comfortable with them. Example: If you see an agents face over and over again on billboards and ads, they most def work with a team under them so don’t assume that person will be the one you work with.
A few other things, agents have been charging a “Realtor admin fee” to clients which is on top of their commission. That fee is a money grab for the brokerage so ask your agent upfront about negotiating to not pay it.
Good luck,
Matambo,
15 Responses
Thank you
Whilst realtor is a term used in America every other country would have something similar so your articles information is relative for so many of us. I believe that no matter what you want to buy that word of mouth is always the best way. I know I only ever recommend people that I believe are worthy of it.
Also, you mentioned Google which has now become a great source of information and we are all trying to promote ourselves via this channel.
Useful information in here for everyone
Thank you
Based on my many years of experience, when I was looking to buy a property, it was very difficult to find an agent and an agency that deal with it very well to fulfill all the client’s wishes that are in line with the material possibilities. You need to be persistent, google search and know if you need more agents before you make a decision on any purchase.
Well, I think that your tips will really help me to be Abel to get a good realtor. Actually, it is not me who is looking for.a real estate agent but a friend so I have to come online to look for one and now that you have shown me ways to find one, it will b a lot more easier. Nice stuff
en effets un agent immobilier est comme les fondations d’une bonne maison trouver le bon c’est trouver un bon endroit pour vivre. Et j’aime beaucoup le fait que tu utilise le mot bouche a oreille en effet c’est le meilleur moyen de trouver des informations utiles et nécessaires pour vous
Hello Innocent, buying stuffs can be tricky if you don’t make your research well and I have to say these 5 tips are very important if you want to get good stuff. Buying a realtor would require much of that and for me personal review from individuals is mostly the accurate way to get the right detail
Personal review is always the best
I fully agree with point 1, but when I bought my house, I didn’t have any people to ask unfortunately. So my wife and I could only go to an online app to search for properties we like and call the real estate agent. I can’t recall exactly but I think in my case, the agent is covering both buyer and seller side. 🙁
Buying properties is a skill to learn on its own. A lot of things we need to learn!
It truly is a skill but the nice part is that everyone can learn it
I really enjoyed reading your article as I learnt a great deal from it about picking the right realtor to suit your needs and I really wish that I came across this article years ago when I was looking to buy a new house as it would have saved me a lot of stress back then but nevertheless I am sure that your article will be especially helpful to a lot of people.
I am glad you found it helpful
You bring up some very good points about finding a realtor. Thankfully, we have only needed a professional realtor a couple of times and did find very good people to work with. When we were moving out of state, the search for a realtor was difficult but we found a very well established woman with great credentials. She did a fantastic job in finding the perfect home for us. She has now retired, so if we need to move again, it will be a little more difficult.
One consideration when interviewing and deciding which agent to use might be to also ask on neighborhood groups in social media, such as Facebook or NextDoor. I find people on these groups can be quite candid about their referrals, although some may also refer friends or family just because they know them. Caution, still, but it does provide another resource path.
Great article that I can easily share with friends!
Thank You
These are good points to remember. It surprised me that there are agents who are not working for a particular seller. That would be great if we could actually find someone who will be working solely for the buyer. In our place, however, I never encounter agent like that, not yet maybe.
I wonder if the six to seven years experience is really necessary? There may be good and trustworthy agents who are still in the third or fourth year in this kind of job. Possible?
yes it is very possible to find an agent with less than six years experiance and so their job well
Buying a home is one of the greatest investments that a person can make therefore we should do our homework well to ensure we are connected with the right people. We need to find a business that is credible. The tips that you have shared is a great help for first-timers seeking to get their dream home. Thanks so much for sharing.