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By Curtis Brown
Special to the Financial Independence Hub
For many of us, the decision to buy or sell property has far reaching financial implications, which is why among other things, we need advice from an experienced real estate agent to help make the process smoother. But how does one go about finding a good agent?
Once you get your mortgage pre-approved, you can start getting serious about hiring a real estate agent. You will find them on the internet, on local papers, yard signs, maybe even through email marketing. Real estate agents are sales professionals whose job is to connect you to a buyer or seller – and they can access a Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which tells them which properties are on the market, and which ones have already sold.
How Do I Find the Best Agent?
Most people hire them online, but to make sure that you find the most qualified person for the job, follow these five expert tips:
1.) Contract somebody you can trust
You’re probably not looking at personality differences when hiring a real estate agent, but keeping in mind that home selling takes weeks, you’re going to spend a lot of time with your new agent. Make sure that you are comfortable with each other, and that you get along. Having knowledge of the market is one thing, but it won’t help things if you end up fighting with your real estate agent.
To help with this, you should conduct interviews with your top candidates to ensure you get the best person to work with.
2.) Get referrals from your own networks
Speak to family and friends about finding a good agent, and maybe get this information from someone who has recently bought or sold a property. Find out what experiences they had and if they liked their real estate agent.
Remember, you want to work with an agent who has experience with clients that are similar to you. So if this is a first time purchase, then your agent must have a lot of experience with first time buyers.
Ideally, your real estate agent should tick the following relevant boxes:
- Be a Realtor with a capital: This makes them a member of the National Association of Realtors and bides them to their ethics and code of conduct.
- Certified Residential Specialist (CRS): It shows the agent has undergone additional training in residential real estate.
- Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR): Indicates that the agent has had additional training to help represent buyers in transactions.
- Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES): Has had training for handling transactions for clients aged over 50.
If you decide to contact the agent, ask them as many questions as you need to, about your own transaction.
3.) Search your preferred candidates online
You can learn a lot about them by checking their online presence. Examine their social media accounts and websites as well. If they don’t have a strong digital presence, that might not be a good indication of their skills. Reviews are another source of information, and this you can get from third party websites. One or two bad reviews is fine in most cases; but if they constantly get bad reviews from every independent reviewer online, move on to another agent.
Also check with your state licensing board to see if an agent you want to hire is licensed or has had disciplinary action taken against them in the past. You can get this information from your local Better Business Bureau.
4.) Meet at least three real estate agents
This is your chance to get a sense of the person you’re trying to hire.
Simple things like their personal style, and the way they communicate with you will tell you whether its a good idea to work with them or not. At the end of the day you want someone who understands your needs, and this includes your budget, urgency, availability, and so on.
A real estate agent who doesn’t understand you can make the process more difficult than it needs to be. See if they put any effort into the presentation, because that may indicate how strongly they present your needs when working for you.
5.) Ask for references – and read them
Have each of your three potential agents bring in some references from the past year. If they have sold properties in the past year, they should be comfortable presenting the contact information for their most recent clients. Don’t fall for any agent that presents you client reviews from ten years ago. Contact those clients and find out if the agent offered any type of support to help list and sell the property; and any possible challenges they may have faced in the process. Ideally, three of their most recent clients would consider hiring the same agent again.
In conclusion
Always trust your gut when hiring new people, as this can help make the process go smoothly, even if the negotiations get a little bumpy at first. Most importantly, find an agent with whom you are comfortable, and read your contract.
Your contract should spell out in detail the terms to which you both have agreed, including the rate for commission. In most cases, the real estate agent for the buyer and the seller will agree to split a 6 percent commission, which they get from the sales price of the home. It is possible for you can negotiate this commission down to 5 percent.
And finally, don’t sign a contract that takes longer than six months. Nobody wants to get stuck selling a home for more than a few weeks. In todays market, you can usually sell a house within 30 days, so if a few months go buy without closing a deal, you should be able to switch agents. Try going with a 3-month contract, or less, to give the real estate agent enough time to find you a good deal.
Curtis Brown writes for for perfect agent, a blog dedicated to a real estate agents in the process of selling or renting a property, connecting customers with top performing real estate agents. He has written articles on most real estate, real estate agent, and home related topics.
