The Best Ways To Find Out

Here you will find sure-fire ways to determine if the agent you are considering to represent you in the home buying and/or home selling process has the necessary skills to help you achieve your goals. You will first get the strategies to use if you are considering selling your home and then the strategies to use if you are buying a home.

If you are a move-up buyer, you must first sell your home, so make sure you read both parts. If you need a referral for a top notch CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) in your area, please feel free to call me at (909) 346-5156,or Email to brothers@realty4sale.com and I will provide you with a referral absolutely free, at no cost to you.

Remember, the time to ask questions is before you sign a listing agreement and before you sign a buyer-brokerage agreement. Your financial future is at stake, so don't be afraid to hurt an agent's feelings. Any top real estate professional will appreciate your due diligence. In fact they will already be prepared to answer your tough questions. They want the incompetent agents out of the business. They don't want to continually work as hard as they do to gain your respect and not be perceived as a true professional. They want to have credibility in your eyes. So just go for it!

If an agent cannot answer your questions, it doesn't mean that he or she is not a nice person. It simply means that they may not be qualified or be the right person to handle the responsibilities of representing you properly. In those cases, you can save yourself a lot of headaches and, perhaps, thousands of dollars as well. This isn't rocket science, it's just plain common sense.

1. When did you start in real estate? How long have you been working full-time in the real estate industry?
2. What kind of prior business and sales experience do you have that has prepared you for your career in real estate?
3. Are you licensed as a broker or just as a sales agent?
4. Do you delegate a lot of the real estate process to assistants or will I always have you to personally handle my calls and the details of my home buying or selling process?
5. Can you explain 3 things you do that no other agent does that will give me a "marketing advantage" over other sellers?
6. Will you place my property on the Internet to increase my exposure to potential buyers?
7. Do you own your own unique domain site that I can view to find out more about your services and how you work with buyers and sellers? Can I have that address now?
8. What process are you personally doing on the Internet to attract buyers to your web site?
9. Do you have an "Easy-Way-Out" Listing Agreement policy so I can terminate the listing agreement with no strings and no further obligation? If not, why not?
10. Can you explain exactly how you will communicate with me throughout the listing and sales procedure? Will you use E-Mail and the phone to make it convenient for me?
11. Will you give a special commission consideration, if you represent both me and the buyer of my home?
12. Can you tell me why I should list my house with you versus using another agent?

    Although it is not always the case, you will find that the top agents in an area will have a personal web site that promotes their services as an individual real estate agent. Some few will go even further and own their own unique domain site. Therefore a good way for you, the consumer, to separate the better agents in an area is to ask them for their personal web site address. Then take the time to look at their site; a careful, comparative, look!

    Many times an agent will refer you to their company's web site address. However you are not dealing with a company, you are dealing with an individual agent. That's why you should ask for their individual web site address. Find out how easy or hard it is to enter the address and if the site loads quickly. Look at the site as your potential buyers will. If you are using the Internet, you should at least work with someone who can communicate with you in the most efficient manner.

    Asking this one question could make the difference in saving several thousand dollars as a consumer. You will want the advantage of working with the best agent in the area. Generally, the agent who has taken the time and spent their own money to get up-to-speed in technology will also be technically competent in the other vital areas of real estate. Remember the best agent for you is not necessarily the "numbers" agent (most sold, most listed, most volume) talking of nothing but statistics. Volume may be fine in discount stores or automobile dealerships (with thin margins), but when the product being sold is your home you want to maximize your return. You want it handled by an agent, to whom it is an individual, valued, commodity and not just another notch on someone's "statistics gun".

    When you are dealing with an agent licensed as a Broker, you are dealing with the highest license classification! Brokers may own and operate their own offices, handle their own escrows and supervise large groups of sales agents. Brokers may at their option, work as a sales agent for another Broker. Licensed sales agents, on the other hand, have no choice . . . they must work for and under the supervision of a Broker. So when you have a choice, opting for a Broker as your representative gives you an agent with the leadership, training, experience, ability and know-how the license denotes.

    If you are reading this over the Internet, please take a moment to print out this entire file and keep it handy. Then, when you interview an agent, take out a pen and ask them a few of these questions. Write down their answers. Ask every agent these questions. If you get the chance, ask a few of these questions over the phone. Then you can determine if you even want to keep the appointment with them. You could save yourself time and money by following this procedure!

    

    • Bill Brothers, CRS Retired
    • Broker
    • 909-780-7673 Home
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