When it's time to invest in a home, whether it's your first home, a second home, or a vacation home in , hiring a Realtor® is generally the first big step. When it comes to finding property to buy, a realtor's job is to be the buyer's agent, similar to a second hand man (or woman!) An agent will be the person who represents you, your spending budget, and whatever you want or do not want in a home. Be wary though, a bad Realtor® can make for a horrible buying experience, and it's just as possible to have a bad experience than it is a good experience. Before hiring a Realtor®, ask yourself some of these huge questions before making your final decision.
- Does the Realtor® work full time or only part-time as a real estate agent?
In cases like this, a full-time agent will most likely be the better option. This is simply because a part time agent may not be as wholly invested in you and your desires than someone who does this every day, full-time. There are always exceptions to this, of course, but more often than not a full-time agent will have more experience in his or her chosen field.
2. How many sellers are you working with right now?
This one is not solely black and white, as some people may prefer to know that their agent is busy selling homes and taking care of their clients, while others may believe that the more clients an agent has, the less likely they will be to focus on the entire project for one person.
3. How many homes have you sold in the last few years?
Obviously, this is an important question. Narrowing it down to your own town or even neighborhood may even be the wiser thing to do when it comes to asking about the realtor's personal sales. Your agent's job is to sell your home, and more sales mean a good agent. (Mostly.)
4. Are your Realtor® fee's negotiable?
This may seem like an odd question, but if an agent tells you no, find someone else. It's almost expected that an agent's fees and salary can be negotiated for the client. As your agent, their moan goal should be to help you as much as possible--even if this does mean charging less for his or her services.
5. What do you think my house can sell at?
This is another one of those questions that seems like it should be common sense. As it was stated before, an agent's job is to successfully sell your home. Being able to give you a possible quote for what your home could sell for is part of their job. The more they know, the more successful the process will be.
6. How long am I required to list my home with you?
A common time frame when hiring an agent to represent your house is around six months, but this is definitely negotiable if you want to renew the contract to keep working with your agent. The six month mark is often a good place to stop and decide if your Realtor® is doing what they can for your best interest.
7. How long have you been a Realtor®?
Just like the number of homes sold question, this is a biggie. Four to five years of being a professional in the business is usually a good indicator as to how helpful your agent will be.
8. Do you have prior clients as references?
Another forward question, if an agent hesitates to give you references concerning his or her former clients; it's a huge red flag. A Realtor® should be happy to give you references.
9. How often will we communicate about the process?
A good agent is an excellent communicator. There will be nothing worse than hiring an agent to help you through the process only to find later that your Realtor® rarely updates you and takes an extreme amount of time getting back to you. Like any professional relationship, communication should be the main key of working together.
10. Why should I hire you instead of them?
If your agent is a great one, he or she will be able to answer this question without hesitation. Whether it's for their amazing client-relationship track record, or the amount of homes they've successfully sold, this question should be answered directly. Any hesitation, find someone else.
At Lake Norman Realty, we are dedicated to being the best agents possible to our clients. We are eager to serve Mooresville and the surrounding Lake Norman area, NC clients, and we cherish a working relationship built on trust, dedication, and professionalism. Sheri George has been in the real estate business for nineteen years, and her teams of agents are highly skilled and trained to do the absolute best job for you that we can. Give us a call today to speak to one of our Realtors®--we promise you won't regret it.
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