One of the first people that you will probably contact when buying a home is a Real Estate Agent. They are going to be the ones that represent you in all of the business dealings regarding either buying or selling your home.
In this post I’m going to show you what to look for, the right questions to ask and ultimately how to find the best Real Estate Agent for you. So let’s get to it.
First Things First, here is the video for this blog. Enjoy 🙂
Referrals
One of the best single handed ways to find some of the best lowkey real estate agents is to simply just ask. You can ask family members, friends, or anybody. More than likely they have or know someone who has had to use a real estate agent in the past.
Once you get so many recommendations from friends and family, I would take those names and go to Google. Google search their names to see if they have a website or a social media profile. Oftentimes you can look on there and find either good reviews or bad reviews based on who the person is.
Lastly, do a background check. This can be an official check where you use a company. Or it could simply be you talking to people that this agent has represented in the past. You will then learn first hand how well the agent is.
Vibe Check
When you are deciding on an agent you want to find someone who you are going to vibe with. If you say go right they are more than willing to go right with you. This gel of a connection will work out in your favor when the agent is representing you. They will understand what their client, aka you, wants.
I would say the chemistry with the agent will put you miles ahead of other people. In this category someone who takes your best interest to heart will trump years of experience. When you are choosing an agent you want to be able to trust them, and this would be one of the first steps to knowing whether or not you trust them.
Supportive
If this is your first time buying a home you want to make sure that you have the right amount of support needed to be successful. If you find an agent that has more than 3 or 4 clients at a time. It could be difficult to get some things done as they may be busy with other clients when you have a question or want to look at a property.
When you find that agent tell them to be honest with how many clients they have, or at most will have. This is your time to be selfish as you are hiring someone to work for you. This leads me to the next point of what you should ask your agent when you interview them.
Questions to Ask
When you have narrowed down your search to about 3 agents. Then it is time to interview them and ask some questions. This is where you really are going to see what kind of person this agent is, and if they are the best fit for you.
Here are 5 questions you should ask each agent you interview.
- Are you a full time Agent?
- Do you primarily work with Buyers or Sellers?
- What makes you different from other agents?
- How many clients are you representing?
- Can you refer me to a mortgage broker…etc?
Knowledgeable
Your Agent should be knowledgeable in the marker that you are trying to buy in. They should know how long houses stay on the market, and if the homes are bought below or above asking price.
You should be comfortable with your agent. Make sure you have a good understanding of how you and your agent are going to communicate. Whether through text, email, or messenger pigeon. Real estate moves fast, and you don’t want to miss an opportunity due to miscommunication between you and your agent.
Rob’s Opinion
When I started to search for my agent, he was referred to me by a family member who lived in the area I was moving to. My agent happened to be the president of a board of realtors. Him being the president he had a lot of connections throughout the city. In having those connections he was able to refer me to my Mortgage Broker.
Once I got my preapproval letter I handed it to my agent so he could start looking for homes that were in my price range. If you remember from a previous post the number I gave him was about $50k less than what I was actually approved for.
I met with my agent once so that he could show me some homes that he had found and that I agreed to. I found some that I liked and decided to put an offer in for one of them. Once that was completed Covid Hit and there was a lot of uncertainty about the whole real estate market.
In these times my agent helped keep me up to date on all of what was going on with the home while covid was affecting things. He helped really bridge that gap as I was moving from out of state to this home.
I give you this insight to show the importance of having a great agent on your side. Hopefully you can follow this post as some guidance on your own journey to find the right agent for your needs.
Like always if you found this hopefully please comment down below on how this blog has helped you achieve your goal of finding an agent. If you also have any questions please comment below and I will do my best to answer them.
