When it comes to buying or selling your property, you want to make sure that you are giving yourself the best possible chance. The market is over saturated with real estate agents and a lot aren’t going to be worth your time. So how do you go about finding the best one for your needs? Here we have put together a comprehensive guide to finding the best real estate agent in 2023.
If You Are Buying Speak To Your Lender
Most of us are going to need to speak to a lender if we are looking to buying a property and the lenders are usually very well placed to be able to recommend established and trusted agents. Lenders will have built up a good picture of who is and isn’t reliable in the industry and it is this insight that can save you money and time. They will also know which real estate agents are well established in which areas and this detailed insight can help you make the right choice.
Do Your Own Research
If you aren’t borrowing in order to purchase a property, then you’re not going to have the same level of access to advice than someone who is. If this is the case, then start conducting your own research. Thanks to the internet you are able to find out all manner of information regarding perspective agents. It is worth noting though that you need to be careful when you are conducting your research. Stay away from sponsored ads at the top of google, as these will have been paid for by perspective agents. Instead, look at local check a trade boards, online groups and even Facebook. These can all be exceptionally useful tools when you are trying to find out the best agent in your area regardless of if you are buying or selling.
Speak To Your Network
Whether it is work colleagues or other people that you interact with on a daily basis, at some point someone you know would have had to have delt with a real estate agent. Networks can be a difficult thing to glean information from as people often only remember negative experiences rather than positive. However, this can be a good method of working out who you don’t want to deal with, which in a lot of cases is often more important than knowing who you do want to deal with.
Interview
Whether you are selling your property or you are buying one, you want to get a short list of potential candidates for your real estate agent. By having a short list you are making sure that you can ask each realter uniform questions and see which ones give you the best answers. By having a short list, you are stopping yourself from making rash decisions that could impact you later on down the line. At a minimum, you should be interviewing at 3 candidates to make sure they are the right fit for you. Have a look for interview templates online, so you can ask probing questions. You also want to make sure that the template you use has a list of answers that you’ll want to hear. Don’t be dissuaded if the template is asking the same questions in different ways, you want this to happen and you want to make sure that you ask all of the questions in the predetermined order. This method makes sure that the answers the realters give you match when you ask the same question repeatedly.
Reference Request
Once you have conducted the interviews, you want to start gathering references. If you have chosen one or can’t choose between two, references are integral to making sure that you get the service you want. Not only do they provide you with a statement attesting to your chosen realters work, but it also gives you a way of verifying exactly what they are saying. Once you have the references, don’t just leave it to chance, you want to make sure that what is written rings true. Once you have received the references, ring them! Ask questions about the service they received and make sure that what is written is true.
Check Your Contract
Before you sign anything, make sure that you check your contract. You want to make sure that you are happy with the terms, costings and percentages. You don’t want to enter into a contract without reading it, otherwise you could be in for a sharp shock when your property is sold or you buy one. Spend time looking over all the details and the fine print to make sure that you are happy with what is written.
Go With Your Gut
Finally, one of the things that we often default to is going with your gut. When someone is sat in front of you talking about their line of work, you often get a pretty good idea of what it is they’re about and whether or not they are trying to force a sale on you. Once you have checked all the information, if you then still can’t decide, go with your gut instinct, in terms of both for and against. It may not be the most process-oriented way to do it, but you can be sure that if you are stuck between two good candidates, your gut instinct is usually right.
Wrap Up
When it comes to getting a real estate agent to either sell your property or help you buy one, you want to make sure that you aren’t choosing the first one that you see. Make sure that you meet. Take your time in interviewing and asking questions to make sure that you get the answers that you want. The process is long winded, especially if you start conducting your own research without leveraging personal networks. Read all the fine print and if it comes down to the crunch between two, go with your gut instinct!
