The 7 Golden Rules of Finding the Right Real Estate Agent

real-estate agent

Real estate Agent

Real estate agents are those who represent our property or those we hire to show us to the next place we call home. It’s a noble calling – and also part of a very ambitious and complex network of buyers, sellers, houses, contractors, investors and a lot of paperwork.

This implies that when you’re looking to find the right real estate agent, you’re also looking for someone that will guide you through the real estate world and help you turn your vision into money – or into that cosy cottage by the lake you’ve been dreaming about for years.

Here are 7 tips on how to find the perfect real estate agent in your neighbourhood that will get you exactly there.

1. Find Out What You’re Looking For Before Looking For a Real Estate Agent.

Real estate agents can help you sell or buy property, but they can’t make decisions for you. And they shouldn’t tell you what to look for. If they try to do so, you might want to consider choosing a real estate agent which is more interested into fulfilling your goals instead of his or hers.

Have a good look at other real estate offers, go through a few user- and buyer-friendly websites and collect ideas and favorites. These will all be valuable insights that will enable the real estate agent to get a better picture of what you’re looking for.

2. Before Opening the Book – Judge It by Its Cover.

Apart from looking for property that fits most of your criteria, look for the individual real estate agents that seem to be responsible for that particular property.

How did they present their offers? Do they provide detailed, clear and helpful information? Do they have a website where they tell you more about themselves? Their work, their accomplishments?

Trusting your gut can be good, but having proof that they’ve done a good job before is certainly worth investing time in.

One thing you should be looking for in particular if you want to find the right real estate agent is whether they are licensed real estate agents. This is important because it’s simple to verify this piece of information and see if they really are the certified and proven real estate agents you’re looking for.

An alternative is to look whether the agent is part of an organization or if he or she is member of a trusted and certified association. Professional real estate agents need to have an exceptional and fully-functioning network of different people around them; if they seem to be somehow disconnected from other agents and agencies, there probably is a reason behind that.

3. Let Others Know You’re Looking to Find a Good Real Estate Agent.

By telling your friends and family that you’re in search of a competent real estate agent, your chances of finding them immediately increase.

Maybe someone even has first-first hand experience with this kind of question, and you’ll have rock solid proof of this agent’s good work. If they can’t recommend anyone, it’s good to let them know either way; they might meet someone who knows someone, they might run into an old friend who now works as a real estate agent.. You never know! And you know you can trust them.

4. Go Online.

Online platforms are an immensely useful tool for people who are trying to choose the right real estate agent for them. Make use of that!

There are plenty of websites with profiles of real estate agencies or individual real estate agents. Go through a few of them, see what other clients say about those agents and what it was like for them to work with that particular agent.

Be aware that there are websites with fake reviews. A possible indicator that a review has been doctored is the absolute lack of negative feedback.

Online research can also be very useful to check if the prices and conditions of a particular property are acceptable. If you’ve been asked to look at a few homes and eventually pick one of them, compare them to other houses with similar features. And make sure that they’re not too far away, because the location has an enormous influence on the price.

5. Good Real Estate Agents Can Answer Your Questions – And They Know Which Ones to Ask.

Real estate world directory

Good Real Estate Agents Can Answer Your Questions

This is something you can’t skip if you’re looking to find the right real estate agent for you. It’s an important part of what makes a particular real estate agent the RIGHT real estate agent.

Competent real estate agents need to be on time, they need to be well-prepared, friendly, and able to answer your questions about the property or the procedure you’re interested in. But even more importantly, they ask necessary questions. It’s the only way they can sell something properly. Skipping important pieces of information just tells you about their poor work ethics.

This implies questions about the construction: such as layout plans, used material, energy efficiency. Getting an insight into the building itself is equally important: when was it built, when was it renovated and so on. The clearer the picture of it, the better.

6. Choose Real Estate Agents That Are Open About Their Commission Rate.

A serious real estate agent will give you clear information as to how much you’ll have to pay for his or her help. How high is their commission rate? Does it depend on anything else? If they’re waiting to let you in on this, there is nothing wrong with asking – after all, you need to know how much you’ll have to pay them.

Another useful thing is that several countries have regulations as to how high these commission rates can go. Look it up, as this might be another chance to see if this particular real estate agent is a fair player.

Once you talked about the price, ask them to give you everything in written form. It’s just a piece of paper, but if they suddenly charge much more than you’ve initially agreed on, or if they charge you for things they haven’t mentioned – you’ll be on the safe side.

7. Proactivity Wins!

The right real estate agent is an absolute doer. If he or she really is a professional, they’ll be in touch and contact you on a regular basis.

They’ll tell you about the clients that have called, how negotiations are going and what marketing activities they have going on for your property.

If this agent is the real deal, he or she will also provide feedback and look for ways to improve your offer. Expert advice is worth gold. Go for the best!