How Do I Choose The Right Real Estate Agent?
Buying or selling a home is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll ever make, and the real estate agent you choose to help you is going to make all the difference! But with a market flooded with Realtor and real estate agent options, how do you choose? Here are the most important boxes to check in the process:
1. Make sure the agent is full-time, not one who does real estate part time on the side
You want to choose an agent that is fully invested in their business, and therefore, you! Someone who does real estate on the side is not going to be fully committed to working for you and will instead have other things—like their full-time gig—taking priority.
2. Avoid hiring a relative
It can get a little personal when you mix business and family. Although your relative may expect you to use them as their agent, we suggest instead asking them for a quality referral. They can recommend a great agent for you to make sure you’re taken care of without the fear of hurting relationships, and they will also likely get a small referral fee from the agent they referred you to. This way you’re supporting your family while also keeping business separate. Win win.
3. Pick a winner
If you’re looking at an agent with awards under their belt, that is not something to be ignored. Customer service awards or peer-given “Best Realtor” awards say something about the quality of their work and the thoughts of the people they work with and for.
4. Ask for past client references
There is nothing wrong with asking to talk with some of the Realtor’s recent clients to see what they thought about the process of working with that particular agent. Also don’t forget online reviews! Check Trulia, Zillow, Facebook and Google for past client reviews and the agent’s star rating. That’s a great place to start to narrow down a pool of prospective Realtors.
5. Find out the agent’s average “days on market”
If you’re selling a home, you want to get it sold as quickly as possible, right? While you’re interviewing agents, be sure to ask them what their average days on market is for a home. If they either can’t produce that number for you or if it’s not an impressive time frame, that’s a good indicator that this isn’t the agent for you. For example, our average days on market is 26, meaning from the time we put your home on the MLS, our record shows that we can get it sold within a matter of weeks! Boom.
6. Look at the Realtor’s online marketing materials and current listings
A great many of today’s buyers are starting their house hunt online, which means it’s more important than ever that online listings make a great impression. If your potential agent’s website is outdated or their current listing photos don’t look high quality, that’s reason enough to move along to the next prospect.
