You know that a good Realtor can make your home buyer or selling experience gratifying and that a bad Realtor can make your experience miserable. Realtors tend to go one way or another when it comes to being your advocate in the world of real estate. Unfortunately along with all the superior agents are inferior ones. It is up to you to choose which Realtor you will work with and you know to proceed with caution.
Below are 8 tips for choosing a Realtor. Of course there are ways not listed here that you use to find a Realtor who will do his job right. Hopefully going through these tips will help you to avoid the agents that you hear so many complaints about.
1. Go with a reputable agency - Overall, Realtors who work for agencies tend to be better prepared for situation that they will face because their agencies provide training and additional resources to them. An agency is likely to hear about any dissatisfied customers and they will have the resources and the customer service capabilities to fix problems or quickly re-assign Realtors.
2. Realtors should be licensed - Realtors need to have professional and educational training before they act in a real estate agent capacity. In addition to knowing how to find or sell properties for clients, a big part of real estate sales training involved understanding the financing process, legal forms and other binding documentation. The Realtor needs to know everything necessary to carry through a sale or purchase within the rules of the law.
3. Don't be pressured into signing an agreement - When you choose a Realtor you enter into an agreement with that individual to pay for their services with a certain percentage of the home's purchase price. Many Realtors and real estate agencies will allow you to enter into temporary or short term agreements with agents. This way you have a type of trial period with your Realtor to be able to get an idea of how he works. If you are not satisfied with his performance you are free to choose another Realtor. If you are pressured into signing an agreement right away, you may want to proceed with caution. A good agent knows that after a trial period he will be signed on for the long term, and usually will not be opposed to a short term trial agreement.
4. Make sure personalities don't clash - Get to know your Realtor's personality. Be observant of how he acts in stressful situations and make sure that you will be able to get along with this person for at least a couple of months. In an aggressive selling or buying environment you can end up spending a lot of time with your agent, make sure that you can at least tolerate having him around.
5. Dependability and punctuality - Realtors have many appointments to meet clients, open houses, opportunities to present offers, etc. This is why it is so important for your Realtor to keep his appointments and arrive where he says he will be, on time. Your Realtor is very literally representing you in a business deal and you want to be able to depend on him.
6. Willingness and dedication - Many times Realtors have to work long hours and pitch in to help to get the job done. Make sure that your Realtor is dedicated to serving your best interest and is willing to work hard to make you happy.
7. Professionalism - This trait is pretty self explanatory. Your Realtor is handling hundreds of thousands of dollars; he should do so with professionalism.
8. Diligence - Real estate sales is not always an easy job, sometimes there are homes that simply do not sell right away, or buyers who aren't satisfied with any available properties. A passive Realtor is the last thing that you need.
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