5 Tips For Choosing a Great Real Estate Agent

For the past few months, my wife and I have been looking for a new house. In our search, we’ve had the opportunity to work with several different real estate agents. During our dealings, we’ve come to realize that not all agents are the same. And it’s not specific to the location either. Two agents within the same geographic areas could have completely different philosophies. As well as varying knowledge of the market.

If and when you begin your search, unless you know the real estate laws for your area, at some point you’ll have to work with a real estate agent. Therefore, here are five things to look for in a potential “business partner.”

1. Are they organized?

As odd it might sound, in our experience, this isn’t as common as one might think. Because we were searching in different areas, we had no choice but to use different real estate agents. Just as with many aspects of life, first impressions are important. Some of the real estate agents we’ve worked with were awesome. While others had room for improvement. One of the first things, we noticed right away, was whether or not the agent was organized.

Here are a few questions, you should ask yourself, to help determine if they’re organized.

• Did they perform a walkthrough of the house prior to your arrival?
  • This is very helpful as the prospective buyer. The agent is able to go through the house and answer potential questions you might have.
• Do they know the neighborhood?
  • The agent doesn’t need to be an expert in it. But at least understand the area.
  • This is important when trying to determine distances from shopping and medical services.
• If there’s an HOA, have they gathered the documents on it?
  • For those of us who have animals. Some HOA’s have restrictions/limitations on the number of pets allowed.
  • Same goes for fencing the yard, or parking additional vehicles on the property.
• Did they provide you with a printout of the property (or anything other than their business card)?
  • The printout has various information about the property, that you might not have known. Not just the price and square footage, but all the information entered into the MLS.
  • This isn’t always necessary (or even desired). Nonetheless, if they provide a copy that at least says that they were thorough.
• Did they provide you with one of their business cards?
  • Them providing you with their business card should be a given. I don’t know that I’ve ever worked with one who didn’t provide one.

2. Are they thorough in their questioning (in identifying your needs)?

Real Estate agents work for you, not the other way around. This means, if you’re buying a house, they should be looking for and providing houses for you to see. If you find yourself in a situation where you’re the one providing all of the houses to the agent, then they’re not working for you. They’re merely setting up the viewing of the house you already found. You could do that without them. All you’d have to do is contact the seller’s agent (which is easily accessible through www.homes.com).

In order for the real estate agent to work for you, they have to understand what you’re looking for. And, possibly even more important, what you’re not looking for, in a house. Here are some instances:

• What is your lot preference?
  • Do you prefer the corner lot, or is it okay to be in-between other houses?
• Is there a certain lot size that you’d prefer?
  • Bigger isn’t always better.
• What about homeowner’s associations (HOA’s)?
  • HOA’s can be very restrictive. It’s important to know if a potential house has an HOA before signing on the dotted line. As well as know what their covenants/restrictions are.
  • Not to mention some HOA’s have very low fees. While others, you could literally be paying thousands of dollars a month. All for something you may or may not even care for.
• Are you looking for be within a certain radius of various services or people (i.e., medical/hospital, shopping, family, etc.)?
  • Along with this question, is there a certain area of the city you’d prefer?
• How many bedrooms and bathrooms would you like?
  • Are half or three-quarter baths sufficient?
• House, condominium, mobile home, or manufactured home?
• How many stories?
• What’s the minimum square footage you’d will willing to accept? What would you prefer?
• Are there certain aspects of a house that you really like?
• Are there certain aspects of a house that you really don’t like?
• Does the sun rise/sunset have any impact on your decision?
  • Sunsets can be something to look forward to every night.
• Does the color of the house matter?
  • The interior walls are typically easier to paint than the exterior.
• How much would you like to spend on the house?
• How much would you like to spend on potential repairs to the house after purchase?
  • This can also include upgrades like a fence, new windows/cabinets, installing a pool, updating a bathroom/kitchen, etc.
• And many more.

If your real estate agent isn’t asking these questions, how would they know what to look for? Other than the typical so many bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, and in a certain town/city. But, as described in the questions above, there’s so much more to it than that.

3. Do they act as a fiduciary?

A fiduciary is an individual or organization that makes decisions with the client at the forefront of every decision they make, that might impact the client. How does this work for you as the buyer? Let’s say that you’ve narrowed your search down to two properties.

Both of them meet your wants and desires. And both of them fall in your price range. However, one of them is a little bit less and fits your needs a little bit better. On the other hand, the other one would fetch the real estate agent a higher commission.

As a fiduciary, the real estate agent should recommend that you go with the one that fits your needs better and not allow their personal preference (based on the potential commission difference) to come into play in their suggestion(s) to you.

It sounds simple, and it really should be. Unfortunately, because we live in a “what’s in it for me” society, that’s not always the case.

Regardless of any preferences, they might have, their job is to help you make the best decision for your future. Besides, they won’t be the ones living in it.

4. Are they personable (and relatable)?

As with any service career, customer service is vital for success. Believe it or not, a genuine smile goes a long way. Just like a heartfelt, “thank you.”

Let’s say that you’re working with a realtor who either doesn’t smile or acts more like Ebeneezer Scrooge. Perhaps it’s time to find a new one. Remember, unless you sign a contract, you owe them nothing.

Then again, it might just be that your personalities don’t mesh well together. Rather than loath working with someone you can’t stand, it might be best to seek out new representation before you write an offer on a property. Especially if you take into consideration that you’ll be the one who indirectly pays them for their efforts (you pay the seller who then pays their commission).

If you didn’t have a pre-existing relationship, and you feel they aren’t personable or relatable, fire them and find a new one. Even small towns have multiple real estate agents.

However, if there was a pre-existing relationship, it might be important to avoid burning that bridge. Just kindly let them know that you value their friendship but would like to find someone else to help with this.

5. Do they make you feel valued?

Just like being personable is important, so is how they make you feel. Have you ever known somebody who made you feel like you were a bother to them? Perhaps every time you had dealings with them, they made you feel like they had to go out of their way for you. That’s not a good feeling to have.

It’s not hard to decipher when someone doesn’t value you. They make you feel unimportant and even an inconvenience. This is true in all areas of life.

As I’ve pointed out, you’re the one who’s indirectly paying their commission. They don’t get paid if you don’t buy the house unless you sign a contract stating otherwise (which from my understanding, though possible, is very unusual).

 You want a real estate agent who understands that you’re their client/customer. If they only see you as dollar signs (a paycheck), then it will show through. Their goal will be to get you into any house (regardless of what you want).

When they value you, it shows in how they speak to you, treat you, and help you find what you’re looking for.

Remember, they work for you!

In the end, just remember that they work for you. If you don’t mesh well together, as long as you haven’t signed a contract, I say fire them. We’ve had to do that for more than one real estate agent. It was unfortunate but necessary to achieve the goal of finding the right home for us.