Selecting an excellent realtor when shopping for a brand new abode for you and your family is a lot more crucial than numerous people realize. You need a realtor who will watch out for your best interests over their own personal interests. There are different factors to check for when choosing an agent. Here are just a few of the things that may assist you to assess potential realtors.
- Just how much practical experience do they have? Experience can be a two edge sword. Some agents are so new that errors are to be expected. Other real estate agents have already been in the industry so very long that they’ve quit adapting and are just as likely to make errors as the beginner. It would be best to have a realtor who has been in the business at least 2-3 years. However, don’t discount the beginner who is working with an experienced real estate agent. They may be much more determined to get your business than the established realtor and go out of their way to assist you and make sure everything is accurate. Be wary of the real estate agent dinosaur, the Agent who has not adjusted how they have completed business for the last 20 years. That doesn’t imply they have to have the newest gadgets. They do need to be current with commonly used technology, such as sending documentation by electronic mail in place of faxing everything. The realtor needs to be keeping abreast of the market place and mainstream methods.
- Do they push you to become prequalified early in the process? Any first rate real estate agent will push you to become prequalified early for your house search process. If they don’t you may be wasting time for the two of you. You cannot definitely know just how many homes you can afford unless you are prequalified. It will be even better when you get pre-approved for a mortgage first. Prequalified is how much mortgage loan you are qualify to obtain. Preapproval signifies a loan company is willing to specifically loan you up to a specific sum of money. Becoming preapproved increases your negotiating strength. Additionally, a lot of sellers won’t even examine an offer from any person who has not been prequalified for a mortgage.
- Do they determine and comply with your home search requirements? The realtor early on should try and help you figure out what criteria will be the most important to you. Is it location, size of home, school district, neighborhood amenities, or simply just the price? In the event you present a real estate agent with specific criteria and they ignore the criteria it is time to locate another agent, especially if they’re pushing you to exceed your price specifications. Question the realtor, why they’re ignoring your criteria; there could be a good motive. Possibly your price range is just not available for the locale you need to be. Perhaps they know that the houses are going at a considerable discount to the listed price. A good realtor will tell you why they aren’t or can’t follow your requirements right up front rather than waste your time. A good real estate agent will line up your expectations with the real world.
Most importantly you want to be able to trust your agent. That doesn’t just imply that you simply like them, given that most real estate agents are likeable. It means that they do what they say they will, when they say they will. They should provide guidance to you even when that guidance may not be anything you want to hear. If you don’t believe in your real estate agent locate a brand new realtor you have confidence in. Take into account in case you have signed a buyer’s representation agreement that you probably have particular legal duties to the agent. Go back and study that contract to ensure you comprehend all continuing obligations.
Contributed by: Greg Clarke Top Kelowna Royal Lepage realtor Call me with your Real Estate questions! 250-869-9119