How to Find the Right Real Estate Agent
When you consider what a real estate agent will do for you during your home buying or selling experience — and when you consider the amount of money on the line — it only makes sense to find the best real estate agent for your particular needs.
The question may people have is not “why” to use an agent, but how to find the right one. That’s what we will discuss in this article.
The ‘Best’ Real Estate Agent for You
What makes a particular real estate agent the best choice for you? For starters, it depends on whether you are buying or selling a home. Some agents help buyers and sellers alike, while others specialize in one area over the other. My advice is to find one who specializes in either the home buying or selling process, whichever is applicable to your situation.
For example, if you are planning to sell your house, you don’t want an agent who spends most of his or her time helping first-time buyers. You want a listing specialist. In this scenario, the best real estate agent for you would be one with a long history of helping homeowners sell their homes quickly and for top dollar.
And speaking of experience, this is the next thing you need to consider when choosing an agent. Most will publish their skills, training and experience on their websites, which gives you an easy way to evaluate them. Some questions to ask:
* If the agent primarily helps sellers, how many has he or she helped over the years? What is the average selling time when she represents a client? Does she have a history of selling at or above market value?
* If the real estate agent helps mostly buyers, how many has she helped? What have those clients had to say about her, by way of testimonials? How well does she know the area where you want to live (schools, neighborhoods, etc.)?
Now let’s talk about some of the ways you can find the best agent for your particular needs. These days, thanks to the Internet, finding a real estate professional is easier than ever. Here are some of the things you can do, both online and off:
5 Ways to Find a Real Estate Agent
1. I recommend you start the process by seeking referrals from family members or friends. Who better to recommend an agent than the people you know and trust? You might not need to look any further than your own “circle” to find the best real estate professional for your needs. Put out the word on Facebook or any other social media sites you may use.
2. If you have a preference for a certain real estate company (like one of the big national names, or a well-known local firm), you could start with their website and look for agents in your area.
3. I’m a big fan of reading the blogs of local real estate agents, as way of judging their intelligence, personality and professional skill. You can easily find the blogs of realty professionals in your area just by doing a Google search and sifting through the results. For example, a home buyer in Dallas, Texas would simply search for the phrase “Dallas real estate blogs.”
4. You could also use one of the big Realtor search websites, such as HomeGain or Realtor.com. It’s a free and easy way to get matched up with local real estate professionals in your neighborhood.
I hope this guide to finding the best agent has given you some useful ideas, and I wish you all the best in your future home buying process.