Trick or Treat: Why You Need an Expert in Real Estate

For years, I was the go-to guy for my 11-year-old son Mason during the critical pre-Halloween prep period. We would put our heads together, pick out a costume and then pull it together, usually at the last minute. (I have now officially run out of "P" words.)

But there was always one problem (guess I found more "p"s after all). I don't do gory. I can do scary. I once had my son dress up as an IRS agent. Scariest costume ever. But gory is just not something I can do.

Now that Mason is 11, gory was the only way to go. So I was justifiably replaced with an expert in gory. Catherine is a 20-something expert in gross outs. She is the aunt of one of Mason's friends and she had a plan.

The plan involved clowns which rivaled IRS agents in sheer scare factor, missing eyes created using a mesh eye patch, glued on bullet holes, and dripping blood. In other words, my son was a zombie clown for halloween. (I still insist that the IRS agent was scarier.)

But the real lesson from the night is that experts can help make your dream a reality. I couldn't have put together the costume that Catherine did. I didn't have the vision, experience or skill to pull it off.

The same thing is true when buying or selling a house. Sometimes people want to avoid using a real estate agent. But a good real estate agent is the expert who can make a persons home dreams a reality.

Maybe people feel like a real estate agent took advantage of them. Perhaps an agent lied to them or listed their house and never spoke to them again. Maybe they have been pressured to buy a house they didn't want or were dragged to a million houses that were just not right.

Whatever the reason, some people don't want to work with their local real estate expert. But just like I couldn't create a gory zombie clown costume, not just anyone has the knowledge and skill to buy or sell a house without help. Real estate can be a complicated process and most buyers and sellers should get the help of a good real estate agent.

Here are three traits you should look for in your relationship with a real estate expert.

1. Do you like the agent you are working with? You are going to be working through a lot of complex documents and negotiations about a house. I really believe the best agent for you is the agent that you like.

2. Does the agent communicate faithfully and tell you the truth even when it is hard to hear? If an agent will tell you the truth even when things are not going well, you know this is a trustworthy individual. It is one of the hardest things to do to look in the eyes of someone you likk (see item 1) and tell them that the price they want is not going to work or that the buyer backed out for some reason.

If you feel like an agent is not communicating or is not doing what they said they would do, you should find a different expert to help you out.

3. Does your agent give up easily? Real estate can get complicated in a hurry. You don't want an agent that will quit on you just because things get a little tough. An expert works to find solutions. They don't spend a lot of time dwelling on the problems.

Trick or Treat?

When you find someone knowledgable and helpful, someone you like and trust, working with a real estate agent doesn't have to be scary or daunting. In fact--if you'll forgive me--it can actually be a treat.