Finding a Potential Real Estate Agent
1. Do your online research
In today’s day an age so much information can be had by a simple click of a mouse. We have to harness online tools to empower ourselves to do more with less. When doing an online search spend some time browsing through the web pages. Look for blogs on the web pages that give basic information and knowledgeable tips. Does the website look modern and professional? Do they have reviews on Yelp, and Google? Spend time reading the reviews and look for consistency. Anyone can tell you how great they are but you should require them to show you. Look for an agent that has experience and does real estate full time. Also, if you live in the state of North Carolina you can go to the NC Real Estate Commission’s website to see if the Real Estate Agent has any complaints against their license.
2. Stay local
Do you see an abundance of “for-sale” and “sold” signs from that particular Real Estate Agent in your neighborhood? If yes, they may have access to buyers and sellers in your area. Take a quick photo of the sign from your phone and add it to your list of people to research. I would recommend looking at the successes of the individual agent and not necessarily the franchise.
3. Ask for referrals
Have any of your friends, relatives, or co-workers bought or sold a home in the last few years? Ask if they used a Real Estate Agent and get the name if they did. Were they happy with them? Why or why not? How long did it take them to find a buyer? How long did it take them to close? A good thing to know is how much money in buyer closing costs they had to pay. While it’s normal to pay some buyer closing costs you don’t want to hire someone who will give all your money away just to get their commission check. This is personal information so you have to be tactful in how you go about asking. The best way to know the level of service you will get is to experience the service yourself, but seeing how others have experienced it is the next best thing.
Once you have found some candidates
4. Interview at least 3 Real Estate Agent
Once you’ve narrowed your selection pick at least 3 candidates and set up an appointment at the property you intend to sell. Have they shown up on time for the appointment? Did they contact you to confirm the appointment that day? This becomes necessary when one has several appointments per day. When they came to your house did they have relevant marketing information with them? Did they have a suggested listing price and reasons to back that up? Were they dressed professionally? Did they offer insight on how to show the property? Take notes when meeting with your prospective Real Estate Agent and write down answers to these questions.
5. Process the info
It’s time to review everything and make a decision. If you have answers to the above questions then you more than enough information to make your choice. Sometimes it helps to talk it over with a trusted friend or family member. Verbalizing your thoughts and ideas help you come to a firm conclusion. Remember, in this type of situation a decision is better than no decision. Don’t get stuck in the paralysis of analysis. I have seen so many home owners who have had their house up for sale for years on end because they can’t make a decision!
Mike, I appreciate your tip on staying local when hiring a realtor. I imagine that you would want to hire a real estate agent that knows the area and has local contacts to help the sale go faster. My wife and I are considering moving, if we do end up needing a realtor we will be sure to find one that is local.
Thanks for these tips on hiring a real estate agent Mike. I really like what you put about asking for referrals. I know that the real estate market is a very social one, so people generally have a lot to say about their real estate agents. I really like the part you put about interviewing at least 3 different agents to make sure you like the one you get. Thanks for the help!
I really like your tip about asking friends and family when it comes to hiring a real estate agent. My husband and I are going to be buying our first home in the next few months and having someone to walk us through the process would be really helpful. Thanks for sharing!
I really like your tip about making sure that you interview at least 3 real estate agents! That is definitely something that we will have to keep in mind while we are looking for the right person to help us with our home. We have been wanting to sell our home for a while now so we will be sure to use these tips in our search, thank you for sharing!
I hadn’t thought of interviewing several real estate agents before you choose which one to hire, so I am glad that you mentioned it. I think that would be a great way to find one who will be the best fit. My wife and I have been talking about finding a real estate agent because we might decide to sell our home, so we could move to a bigger one. It will be important for us to know that we could find one who we could trust will be good. Before we choose one, I will be sure to conduct interviews.