When it comes to buying or selling real estate, many people think that going the DIY route can save them some money. Experience tells that going the DIY route when it comes to making one of the biggest financial decisions of your life may turn out to be costlier as compared to working with a professional and experienced real estate agent. Here is a list of some of the reasons why you need to work with professional realtors.
Working with a Knowledgeable Real Estate Agent
If you do not know much about real estate, it is likely that you will make a less efficient deal. Experienced real estate professionals understand the tricks of the trade which means you can use their knowledge and experience to make the right deal. The real estate professionals are also knowledgeable about the neighborhood which means they can quickly identify comparable sales and help you make the right decision. They can also quickly find relevant data on crime, demographics as well as schools in a particular area to help you make the right decision. You also need to consider the fact that all the important things about a real estate deal in a neighborhood are not known to everyone. For instance, it might be known that a particular house was listed for $500,000 but an experienced and knowledgeable agent in that area will know that it sold for far less than the listed price after remaining on the market for too many months.
Expert at Negotiation
One of the things that separates good real estate agents from others in the industry is that they are expert at negotiation in addition to being hard-working and friendly. They are experts at negotiation as their livelihood depends on this skill. On the other hand, if you do not have any experience of negotiation, you might not be able to negotiate the best deal, especially if you are dealing with an experienced real estate agent on the other side.
Contacts
There is a lot of information available online regarding real estate. There are thousands of websites, big and small, listing all kinds of deals at a variety of price points. However, most of the deals still take place due to contacts. Professional real estate agents have a lot of contacts which means they can easily get deals done. On the other hand, listing a home for sale on a few online portals or browsing through an online portal to buy a house is not enough. A lot more needs to be done in terms of due diligence before making such a big deal and this is where the contacts of the real estate agent come in.
Paperwork
A real estate transaction involves a lot of paperwork. In fact, the purchase agreements signed today usually have more than 10 pages in addition to various other disclosures at the federal and state level. Most of the real estate files these days have a few inch thick stack of papers. It is also important to mention here that everything needs to be mentioned correctly and even a single mistake or omission can potentially cost you thousands. Therefore, you need someone on your side who has a lot of experience in handling the paperwork in a real estate transaction.
Objective
For most people, buying or selling a home is the single biggest financial transaction of their life. It can be overwhelming for many people as they have never dealt with such a big amount ever in their lives. This can be stressful and sometimes, people make decisions that hurt them at a later date as they are unable to take an objective view of the situation. A real estate agent is a professional who deals with such emotions on a regular basis which means they are well prepared to give their objective opinion on a matter. In other words, they can be of extreme help by sharing their objective opinion and help you figure out if the deal makes sense for you. So, you should be convinced by now that you need to work with professional realtors in order to make the best deal. However, there are hundreds of real estate agents to choose from as anybody can open a shop as a real estate agent. It does not mean that you should start working with a real estate agent without doing any homework. Follow the steps mentioned below in order to choose the right real estate agent.
Check Their Google Reviews
Customer service is the most important thing for a real estate agent and the best measure for their customer service levels is the reviews by their past clients. Therefore, the first thing you need to look at when you are looking for a real estate agent is their Google reviews. Their Google reviews tell you the whole story. It is important that you do not focus only on the stars but also on the actual reviews left by the customers. Keep in mind that these are real reviews by real customers who have dealt with that real estate agent. If an agent is good at their job, they will have lots of positive reviews and the comments will be full of praise from customers. For instance, take a look at the Google reviews for Local Reality Service: Ocala Real Estate Agents. They have 16 reviews and all of their reviews are five stars by elated buyers who are full of praise for their real estate agent. Many clients mention that this agent has always gone above and beyond to help them in the home buying process. If the agents have negative reviews on Google, it does not bode well for you and you should start looking for alternatives.
Responsiveness
One of the biggest problems in this industry is that anybody can start working as a real estate agent. They just need to have their own website and get a few licenses in order to start this business. However, most people working as real estate agents are not professional and do not care about their clients. One of the things that shows the customer service level of a real estate agent is their response time for emails and phone calls. For instance, if you have called a real estate agent or sent an email with a query, you should expect a call or response to your email within a few hours. If the real estate agent is not responsive, it is unlikely they will pay much attention to your needs. Therefore, you should avoid real estate agents that do not bother to call you back or respond to your emails on time.
Check Their Website
Professional real estate businesses understand the importance of maintaining a professional real estate website. Website of a business is another storefront and a very important one. If a business does not care about such an important storefront, it is unlikely for instance, if you have called a real estate agent or sent an email with a query, you should expect a call or response to your email within a few hours. If the real estate agent is not responsive, it is unlikely they will pay much attention to your needs. Therefore, you should avoid real estate agents that do not bother to call you back or respond to your emails on time.
They will pay special attention to their clients. Most professional realtors have a well-designed website that is easy to navigate and provides all the necessary information you may need. If the website of the agent is not up to the mark, it is likely that they are not good at organizing things. It also shows that they do not pay much attention to detail which does not bode well for you. A well designed website should not only look good but it should also be easily usable on various devices and more importantly, should give you all the information you need in a few clicks.
Comfort Level of Working with the Individual
You should not work with a real estate agent even if they tick all the right boxes but you do not feel comfortable dealing with them. As mentioned in the beginning, a real estate transaction is usually the biggest deal of their life for most people and you should be comfortable dealing with the person who is going to help you throughout the process. A real estate agent is an advocate for you and you need to be comfortable expressing any concerns you might have. It could be anything such as a specific purchase requirement or a particular budget and other such things. The real estate agent should respect your wishes. A professional agent will help you make objective decisions and you will consider their advice only if you are comfortable dealing with them. In simple terms, personal comfort level is extremely important.
Number of Years in the Business
Make sure the real estate agent you choose to work with is working for a company that has been in this business for a number of years. You should not choose to work with a real estate company that is just a few months old. Experience is extremely important in this business and the number of years the company has been in business is a good measure of their overall experience. You should stay away from individuals who have been doing it part time for several years. There are people who have been in this business for decades but only do one or two transaction in a year but you will also find motivated individuals who have been in this business for only a few years but they do more than 10 transactions each year. Therefore, you should take into account the overall experience in the business before you choose to work with them.
Customer Service
satisfaction survey[/caption] Professional real estate agents earn their commission by providing high quality service to their clients. Customer service encompasses a lot of things including keeping you aware of the latest happenings in the market, responding quickly to your queries, finding a good deal within your budget, taking into account your requirements and other such things. One of the ways to judge the customer service offered by a real estate agent is to talk to their past clients. A professional agent will never shy away from providing references. You should ask the agent to give you at least three references and you should talk to these references to get an idea of the customer service offered by the agent. Overall, you need to work with the best real estate agent in your area if you want to get the best deal. Keep the above mentioned tips in mind while choosing the real estate agent in order to find the right real estate agent for your needs.
Other Real Estate Agent Resources:
- 8 things realtor does behind back via Lynn Pineda.
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective Real Estate Agents via Bill Gassett
- 3 Questions You Absolutely, Positively Must Run by Your Real Estate Agent via Dan Barcelon
Comments