How to choose your real estate agent

So here’s a question that you hear all the time when people are considering in buying, selling or leasing a property. How do I choose my real estate agent?

 

Before we talk about all this let’s see how a good and a bad realtor could impact your relationship with your real estate. A good realtor will guide you thru the whole transaction and explain everything to you thoroughly. This person will be representing you in the whole transaction, so you should pick someone that you are compatible with. They should be more of a partner to you than a contractor. Since real estate is the #1 biggest asset that most Canadian own, you want to make sure that your realtor is working in your interest in every way. (not theirs) For example, a realtor waiting for an offer of their own and no present other offers that come thru.

What’s Important?

Good business practice as well as professionalism is very important when looking for a realtor. Your realtor could affect the price of your property. Ultimately, you are the one that signs all the legal documents, put they are the one that researches, markets, negotiate, drafts, and look over all the agreements. If any was done wrong, it will affect the price of your purchase or sale. =For example, if the market is good and you could of sold your house for more than money out of your pocket.

If the market is bad, and the property isn’t moving but the price wasn’t reflective of what it should be on the market. Then it would be extra months of paying for maintenance fees, mortgage, property tax and furniture rental (if applicable). The bottom line is the transaction matters on which agent you pick.

 

Here are some of the things you should consider when picking a realtor:

 Personality

• Does this personality of a sales person? Do they get along with your family? What is the vibe when you first met him/her? Is she/he aggressive, patient, organized and talkative?
  

  Experience and Knowledge

• Is the person that you picked experienced in the area that you are planning buy or sell? Have they done any transactions within the past 3 months in the area? Years of experience matters, but being actively selling is more important than years of experience. If they only sell one property a year for the past 20 years. Changes of them doing a good job would not be good.
  

  Availability

• The candidate should also be available during the whole transaction, you should be able to reach them anytime and the answer should be answered within 24 hours. If there’s an offer coming in at 10 p.m. where they there to present it to you?

   Networking

• Do they have a big network/ client base? Do they connect with other realtors and tell them their current listings to increase the chances of your property being sold as fast as possible? If there are issues that require professional advice. He/she will refer you to at least 3 professionals in the industry.

   Resources

• How much information do they have about your neighborhood? Do they have a 24 hour answering system? Where is their office located? Will there be a meeting space provided for offer presentations?

  Marketing

• If you’re listing your property, how does he/she increase the exposure? What type of marketing does he/she do to increase traffic? What type of advertising do they do? Weekly ads in the newspaper? Websites? Video Listings? Open Houses? Feature Sheets? Signage? Emails to clients and realtors? Direct mailing to neighbors? Newsletters? Social Media Marketing?

  Tech Savy

• With technology changing every day. There are leads coming from everywhere? Does your realtor use every way to reach out to potential leads? Besides answering the phone and responding to e-mails. There’s also The Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and other social media blogs to communicate with clients. You also have free sites like Kijij and Craigslist to expose your listing. Are they aware of that?

  Continuously learning

• Do they know what’s going on in the market? New rules and regulations that a realtor should know, developments in the area and new marketing strategy. All these are important to make your home sellable.

  Follow-up

• Do they call walk in clients and realtors that show the property? Ask for feedback? Check in with you once in a while to see if you have any questions?

 

I hope these tips will help you with choosing your realtor and make your first or next housing transaction a lot easier.

 

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