We Want to Buy a Home-How Do I Pick a Realtor?
When beginning the home buying process, the choice of picking a realtor is crucial. You can pick any realtor out of the phone book, but such a lack of research may cost you time and money in the final outcome.
1. Interview several realtors
Do you know any realtors? Ask your friends. Referrals from friends are a great way to find a realtor, because someone you trust has already done the research for you. If the referral process isn’t for you, there are always local real estate offices in every town. Stop by, talk to realtors and brokers, and make your own assessment.
2. Look for experience.
A buyer’s broker is a great realtor to pick when buying a home. A buyer’s broker is there to serve only the needs of the buyer, and as a broker they are trained and experienced in the whole home buying process.
3. The X-Factor: Do you click?
Are the realtor candidates friendly, personable, polite? Can you laugh at their jokes or understand their explanations? The X-Factor is different for different people. You have to decide if your final realtor pick has that intangible something that says Yes, this is the person who will help me buy my house!
4. Knowledge, Communication, and Integrity
Are your realtor candidates knowledgeable about the whole real estate process? Do these realtor candidates know about the region, towns, and neighborhoods? Do your realtor candidates follow thru with communications to you about homes, appointments, or concerns in a timely manner?
The mark of a good realtor: someone who follows up on all aspects of the real estate process with their clients; someone who listens to the clients’ real estate wants and needs; someone who strives to provide good advice and counsel to help you meet your real estate dreams, not theirs. Do your realtor candidates treat you with courtesy and respect? Look for someone with “old-fashioned” values; such values never go out of style.
A local realtor should know the local market, the local lenders, and the trends in home buying. They can tell you about lenders that are trustworthy, who have low interest rates on home loans, or who will work with potential buyers to get that affordable home loan. Hopefully if you take the time to consider these things, the home buying process won’t seem so overwhelming, and you can go on to the enjoyable part: SHOPPING FOR YOUR FUTURE HOME!
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