How to Choose the Right Real Estate Agent

While it is quite possible to buy or sell a home without the assistance of a professional Real Estate Agent, there are significant advantages to having one.  If you do plan to proceed on your own, make sure you hire an experienced Real Estate lawyer.  Many make the mistake of hiring a general practice lawyer and pay the price later.  Experienced Realtors frequently complain of having to advise a lawyer at every point in the sale process since the lawyer didn’t understand the details of real estate law.  Many a prospective buyer has lost a home due to an inexperienced lawyer.  Let the buyer (and in this case the seller) beware.

Even with an experienced lawyer, using a real estate agent will save you time and effort, regardless of whether you are buying or selling a home.  Most consumers feel this is well worth the cost of a real estate commission.   If you’re buying a home, a reale state agent will help you find properties suited to your budget and your individual tastes and needs.  They will arrange for you to visit properties and assist in presenting offers to sellers, and guiding you through the closing process.

If you are selling a home, a real estate agent will help you establish a fair asking price for your home, arrange viewings of your home, and present buyer offers to you.  Licensed realtors work with both buyers and sellers, and many buyers who are happy with a real estate agent who helped them find a house contact the same real estate agent when it comes time to sell the house.  When talking about how to find a good agent, one thing needs to be made crystal clear.  Real estate agents only make money when a property is sold.  Many prospective buyers feel the real estate agent they are working with represents them, but this is not 100% accurate.  It is in their best interests to get you to buy a home, since that is the only way they make a commission.  Unscrupulous agents don’t care whether you find the right house or not, only that you buy one.   A true “Buyer’s Agent” is a totally independent class of real estate agent, paid directly by the prospective buyer, regardless of whether or not they end up buying a home.  Thus there is no vested interest in getting you to buy a home at any cost.  Since their fees can be high, and are in addition to the commission to the selling agent, most buyers use general real estate agents.

In an Internet world you can begin your search for a real estate agent there but there is another old fashioned way to begin:  word of mouth.  Let your friends, relatives, neighbors, and business associates know you are buying or selling a home and ask what real estate agents they used.  You’re certain to get a list of prospects to interview.  No matter how highly recommended, you need to be comfortable with your choice as you may be working together with them for a long time.  Ask plenty of questions and the responses should be an indication of how knowledgeable the real estate agent is.  If they demonstrate ready awareness of the prices and availability of homes in areas in which you have an interest, that’s a good sign.  If their most frequent response is “I’ll have to check that out on the computer and get back to you”, that’s not a good sign.  Ask them to describe some of their most memorable transactions, both positive and negative.  All this will take care of the “head” part of your decision, but not the “heart” part.  How do you feel about the real estate agent you’re interviewing?  Do you think you would enjoy meeting with him or her once a week, or more?  Do they give you the impression they can be trusted?  These are questions that don’t have rational answers, but you must consider them.  It can take months to buy or sell a house, so choose wisely as you and your real estate agent will be spending a lot of time together.