Deciding to buy a house or sell your home is a decision not easily made, and rather it may be one of the largest financial decisions that you ever make in your entire life. Because of that, you must find a good-quality, respectable, and well-reviewed real estate agent. Finding a good real estate agent is absolutely essential, as they will be facilitating the sale (or purchase) and will handle all of the paperwork for you. There are many real estate agents, all offering similar services, so much so it can be nearly impossible to distinguish good from the bad. With the help of this page, however, you will be able to make an informed decision as to how to find a good quality real estate agent, and how to choose one over another.
It is critical that you find the best real estate agent, otherwise, you may suffer further down the road. Unscrupulous real estate agents can make the home buying (or selling) process a complete nightmare and can make you want to never get involved in it ever again. Here is what you should be looking for in a quality real estate agent.
How to Choose a Quality Real Estate Agent
Bank
Before phoning your estate agent, you must attend your bank and discuss whether or not a mortgage is even viable. Many people go straight to an estate agent, forgetting that they may not even be able to purchase the home that they have their eyes on. Go to your bank first and discuss it with a professional lender and establish how much you can borrow. Jumping the gun and going straight to the agent can cost you a lot of money in fees later down the line.
Honesty
The first trait you are looking for when it comes to your real estate agent is honesty. Honesty is a trait it appears not many possess anymore. It is absolutely essential that your real estate agent is forthcoming, honest, and trustworthy; the specialist estate agents of Jake Taylor share this sentiment and stress the importance of honesty, saying that honesty, communication, and clarity of information are all important traits a real estate agent should exhibit. Dishonest estate agents can seriously hinder the home buying (or selling) process for you. They can lie, steal, and cheat. These are things that, when they begin to impact you, can deter you from ever wanting to sell a home again.
Referrals
Referrals are another essential component of the home buying process. You will likely, as you grow older, have a lot of friends who buy or own houses. Because of this, they will be able to refer you to the estate agents who facilitated the buying or sale of their home. Referrals should be one of the first things that you look at when you are searching for a real estate agent. Referrals will help you determine who is to be trusted and who is not – as well as who offers the most competitive rates.
Research
Once you have a few estate agents in whom you are interested, it’s time you do some research. You should not just blindly accept a referral without some research of your own – so be sure to research potential estate agents and establish whether or not they can be trusted and whether or not you want to do business with them. You should be able to find a lot of information online about an estate agent, whoever they are, as the internet offers information on virtually everything in existence. Do your research diligently and effectively, ensuring to check every crevice and corner of their past.
Interviews
When you have researched potential candidates you will likely have drilled down a much larger list. With your list of, let’s say, four estate agents, you will then want to hold interviews with them. Interview the agent and ask them crucial questions. Your estate agent will become very apparent from the first meeting, but even so, interview all of them and do not go with your heart, but rather the numbers and statistics. Only choose the estate agent who offers you the most – as you are not friends, but rather, business partners (in a sense). And it will be helpful to also know how do you get rid of your timeshare.
References
Once you have your favored estate agent, request references; with these, check them. Many people do not check references, and this is a grave mistake, as a reference not checked can mean accidentally hiring an unscrupulous and untrustworthy agent. You should check the references you are provided the moment you are provided with them so you can establish whether or not the agent you have chosen can be trusted and whether or not you have been misled. You may find upon checking references that the agent has provided false leads or that he (or she) is not as clean as they initially may have made out.
Instinct
With all of this said and done, reviews checked; references checked; interviews held; research conducted, it is time for you to make a decision. This decision, unlike the others, must come from your gut – from instinct. Your instinct will tell you which agent was best for you and which you should choose, so listen to your instinct and let it decide. Do not force yourself to pick an agent that you do not want to, otherwise, you may regret it later down the line very much.
Contract
With all of that done, you must check your contract; the contract, before signing, should be read in full, as it is your house you will be selling or buying, and you cannot leave any room for mistakes or potential errors that may happen. You may find in the contract something not discussed that gives the estate agent more profit – or anything else that may have been a deception. Read the contract in full and run it past an attorney just to verify all of the points made in it. Only then can you proceed.
Now, with the help of this page, you know everything that there is to know about effectively choosing an estate agent. An estate agent must be picked carefully and you should not blindly pick one, lest unwanted complications arise. Pick carefully, wisely, and intelligently.
