There is a multitude of real estate agents everywhere you look. From yard signs and postcards to billboards and online ads, cutting through the noise to find the one agent that’s perfect for you can seem like an insurmountable task, especially when you’ve decided that hiring an agent is essential to making the best of your property sale or purchase.
You can do it though, with a lot of focus and patience, as long as you don’t make the mistake of picking the one with the flashiest adverts. Here are a few tips that’ll help you make the best choice for you:
1. Ask for Recommendations
Referrals by your friends and family can be very powerful when you’re selecting service providers generally and getting a real estate agent is no different. A referral places an obligation on the agent to justify the confidence of the referrer, especially since they’ll know that future referrals will depend on how well they perform this time. Send a message or call friends and family whom you know just sold or bought homes, and you might cut your search time down very easily.
2. Get References
Whether you get a recommendation or not, you should be sure to ask any agent you’re considering for references of recent clients whom they’ve worked with. Ask about the agent’s skills and professionalism, as well as whether the clients were satisfied with the results they got eventually. That’ll help you ascertain that your referrer wasn’t just a single good egg in a basket of bad ones.
3. Check Out Their Current Listings
Look online to find their current listings, whether on their website or on classified ads sites. Key pointers to look out for are how long the properties have been available for sale, how well the listings are constructed and if they have enough listings to indicate a healthy business.
4. Experience
How long has the agent been in this line of work? Naturally, an agent who has more experience is likely to be more proficient and aware of all the intricacies of the job, but it’s more important that you look for specialty experience. Have they been selling or buying homes in your neighborhood, and have they been selling or buying homes like yours? Compared to an agent with many years of experience operating in another state, someone who has been in the neighborhood for even a few years will be more likely to know all the ins and outs of your area and to get you a great deal as a result.
5. Check License and Disciplinary Information
Ask for the agent’s professional qualifications and whether they’ve had any recognition or disciplinary actions given to them. Real estate agents are licensed and regulated by states, so you can usually verify the information online. Needless to say, stay away from agents who have a history of disciplinary issues – an unscrupulous agent can harm you in many ways, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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