Find The Right Real Estate Agent to Help you Buy your Dream Home!
Oct 06 '00
Finding a Real-estate Agent to help sell or buy a house is not as simple is pointing to an advertisement in the yellow pages. If you do that, you will get what you deserve (similar to the saying that those who don't vote get the government they deserve!) Anyhow, let me explain why it is important to have good help on your side. The good help comes in the form of a professional real-estate agent.
Real-estate agents come primarily in two forms (no, not male and female) but in the forms of "Buyer's Agents" and "Seller's Agents." In this review, I will focus on "Buyer's Agents" which is where I have the most experience. As a homeowner, I have gone through the process of searching for property as well as the tasks associated with purchasing the property. It was scary, exciting, and taxing all at the same time. Having a good agent can help get through it all unscathed.
In many states separate agreements are used to "employ" a buyer or seller agent. Each agreement spells out the rules of the engagement. I call it an employment because when you get right down to it, that is what it is. You are employing this person to help you buy a house. They make their money when the sale transaction closes. Their payment comes in the form of commission, which is based on the sales price of the house. Thus, the higher the selling price the more the agent makes.
It is important to keep in mind the payment scheme for the agents. This drives and motivates in some cases they way they will help you find property. You do have some protection based upon the agreement that you sign with the agent. You can restrict the ability of the agent to share information about yourself with the sellers etc… You can also have your agent really market you to the sellers, which may work in tight markets where several sellers are all after the same property. The buyers agent also helps find that special house you want. They should not only market you to sellers and ensure you get the best possible deal, they have to help find your new place.
Finding a new place can be very easy or very hard depending upon the market. For instance in parts of California, looking for a house is a tough task since so few are ever available. In these cases your agent needs to really be on top of what is being listed and if it would come close to meeting your needs. (In my case, I can not even fathom having to shoehorn into a house I could afford out there. If I got one the size of my current house, it would be well over a million in the San Francisco area but no where near that where I live.)
Some of the tasks you should expect your buyer's agent to take care of include; searching listings for houses that meet your needs; learning about the neighborhoods where the houses are located and explaining that information to you (non-discriminatory information only); knowing about the school zoning; explaining the taxes for the area; help find a good title company; recommend several mortgage companies; provide a list of home inspectors (not choose one for you); and take you to see each of the houses you are interested in seeing. The showing of houses is among the more important factors since this is where you will see if the house is for you or not.
Knowing what the agent should do as briefly described above it is time to turn to the selection process. It is important to find someone who can easily perform all of the above tasks efficiently so your buying experience is not bad. You need to find an agent who primarily works with buyers and not sellers. This helps prevent situations where you end up looking at property offered by that agent. Agents love to be the only agent since they get twice as much commission.
To start your search, interview agents that are recommended to you. Next, call the BBB and other local agencies such as the county real estate organization to get a list of agents that focus on working with buyers. Also, make sure that none of these folks have formal complaints against them. Ask your friends who have purchased homes for recommendations. Ask anyone you know who sold a house; "Who was the buyer's agent? And, where they good to deal with?" Make sure the agents you interview will be available when you want to look. It would be bad to have an agent who spends every evening with their family and is not available when that is the only time you have available to look.
After talking to a few agents on the phone (interviewing them) select one or two to meet in person. Do not just sign the first person that sounds good. Even if this takes a couple of hours one day, meet at their office or somewhere else, with the prospective agents. See who you click with and who seems like they can do the best job. Then read and mark up if necessary the contract that you will sign with the buyer's agent. Presto, you now have your agent working for you. Next, go get that dream home and enjoy it!!!
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Epinions.com ID:
dbhoutx
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Member: David
Location: Houston, Texas
Reviews written: 324
Trusted by: 223 members
About Me:
David loves outdoor activities, travel, breeding Registered Texas Longhorns.
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