Buying Or Selling? Here's How To Select A Realtor
Selecting a real estate agent can be difficult. After all, there are so many realtors out there competing for our business. However, the right real estate agent can make all the difference when it comes to buying or selling a home. Here are a few questions that you should ask your potential realtor before signing a contract.
During your first meeting with a realtor, ask about their general qualifications and level of experience. While someone with just a couple of years' experience could be perfectly capable of helping you buy or sell a home, it's a good question to ask. If you are selling your home, more experienced realtors often have some good ideas to make the process move more quickly. Some realtors also go a step beyond the training required for them to become real estate agents and they further their education and receive special designations. Ask about any extra designations they might have, such as GRI, CRS, CSP or ePro. All of these require quite a bit of extra work and study to acquire.
While experience counts, results are what really matters, so make sure your realtor has a solid track record. Ask your real estate agent to tell you how many homes he or she has listed and also sold in the last six or eight months. It's also wise to ask about the final sales prices, especially if your realtor seems to have closed a large amount of deals in the last few months. While it might be a sign of a fantastic realtor, it also might mean that your agent tends to put in lowball prices in order to ensure fast sales. Be sure that your realtor also has a good amount of experience in selling homes in your area and in your price range.
Realtors understand that selling a home is nerve-wracking, and your agent will do their best to make it all go as smoothly as possible. Ask about the overall plan to sell your home. This includes setting a reasonable listing price based on the other homes on the market or recently sold in your area and in your price range. This also includes cleaning up your home, eliminating clutter, making a few cosmetic changes and staging it up to appeal to buyers. Open houses also are usually part of the plan, but a good realtor won't depend on a myriad of open house dates to sell a house.
For those who are just buyers and not selling their home, you should have an easier time completing your real estate transaction. However, during that first meeting, you need to bring a list with you with details about all of the things you want in your new home. Include a few items that are absolutely necessary, such as staying within a particular city or school district or perhaps the necessity of having a certain amount of bedrooms. Keep in mind that you probably won't get every single thing you want, the perfect house probably only exists if you build it yourself. Also, be clear about your budget and go to a lender or bank and get pre-qualification for a loan before you start looking.
If you are in the market for Livermore real estate, Pleasanton real estate, San Ramon real estate or Dublin real estate, contact the real estate experts at 1stInSite.com. They specialize in helping you buy or sell homes in Alameda County and Contra Costa County. They can help you through the entire process, making it easy for you to find the perfect family home.
During your first meeting with a realtor, ask about their general qualifications and level of experience. While someone with just a couple of years' experience could be perfectly capable of helping you buy or sell a home, it's a good question to ask. If you are selling your home, more experienced realtors often have some good ideas to make the process move more quickly. Some realtors also go a step beyond the training required for them to become real estate agents and they further their education and receive special designations. Ask about any extra designations they might have, such as GRI, CRS, CSP or ePro. All of these require quite a bit of extra work and study to acquire.
While experience counts, results are what really matters, so make sure your realtor has a solid track record. Ask your real estate agent to tell you how many homes he or she has listed and also sold in the last six or eight months. It's also wise to ask about the final sales prices, especially if your realtor seems to have closed a large amount of deals in the last few months. While it might be a sign of a fantastic realtor, it also might mean that your agent tends to put in lowball prices in order to ensure fast sales. Be sure that your realtor also has a good amount of experience in selling homes in your area and in your price range.
Realtors understand that selling a home is nerve-wracking, and your agent will do their best to make it all go as smoothly as possible. Ask about the overall plan to sell your home. This includes setting a reasonable listing price based on the other homes on the market or recently sold in your area and in your price range. This also includes cleaning up your home, eliminating clutter, making a few cosmetic changes and staging it up to appeal to buyers. Open houses also are usually part of the plan, but a good realtor won't depend on a myriad of open house dates to sell a house.
For those who are just buyers and not selling their home, you should have an easier time completing your real estate transaction. However, during that first meeting, you need to bring a list with you with details about all of the things you want in your new home. Include a few items that are absolutely necessary, such as staying within a particular city or school district or perhaps the necessity of having a certain amount of bedrooms. Keep in mind that you probably won't get every single thing you want, the perfect house probably only exists if you build it yourself. Also, be clear about your budget and go to a lender or bank and get pre-qualification for a loan before you start looking.
If you are in the market for Livermore real estate, Pleasanton real estate, San Ramon real estate or Dublin real estate, contact the real estate experts at 1stInSite.com. They specialize in helping you buy or sell homes in Alameda County and Contra Costa County. They can help you through the entire process, making it easy for you to find the perfect family home.
About the Author:
Madeleine Glazier enjoys writing about the real estate industry. If you are looking for licensed real estate Pleasanton CA agents, or to discover San Ramon CA real estate agents, please check out the 1stInsite website today.