Many home buyers choose a real estate agent on the basis of a personal recommendation from a friend, relative or associate or because they met an agent at a weekend open house. Either of those approaches, among others, may be a good starting point in your selection of an agent to help you buy a home, but neither a recommendation nor a chance meeting should be the ending point in your selection process.
To conduct a thorough search, make a list of agents who’ve been recommended to you or who you’ve encountered at open houses or through Web sites, then interview each of them, preferably in person, if possible, to find out more about their qualifications.
How to assess an agent’s qualifications Here are some other questions you might want to ask:
- Do you work in real estate full time?
- Do you hold any professional designations?
- Do you belong to the multiple-listing service in the area where I want to buy a home?
- How many buyers have you helped to buy a home in the past year?
- Can you give me the names and telephone numbers of those buyers, so I can ask them about your services?
- How familiar are you with homes for sale in my preferred area and price range?
- Will you be on vacation or otherwise unavailable during the time frame when I want to buy a home?
- Do you have a partner, associate or assistant who works with you?
- What exactly would you do to help me find and buy a home that will meet my criteria?
Understand that you are essentially paying these people 3% of the purchase price of your home. For example if you buy a $100,000 home, you are paying the real estate agent $3,000 just for finding you a home. Make him/her earn that money.
Make absolutely sure your realtor KNOWS what you are looking for in a home, outside of the obvious home many bedrooms & bathrooms and the approximate square footage.
At Cosmos Credit Solutions we have working relationships with hundreds of Real Estate Agents in many states. If you would like some referals Contact Us
Remember: Continue to interview agents untill you are confident that you have found a Real Estate someone you can work with.
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