How To Find The Perfect Buyer's Real Estate Agent
How do you weigh the importance of buying a home – one of the most important purchases you’ll ever make – against the importance of searching for the right person, your buyer’s real estate agent, to help you buy your home? Obviously, the agent is very important. Without a good one, you may struggle through a lengthy process filled with dead ends that can be costly. Finding your dream agent, however, takes some investigation.
1. Local Expertise: Know the Lay of the Land
Your agent should know the area like the back of their hand, be aware of the schools in your preferred neighborhoods, understand the pricing trends and likely discounts in your price range. They should know how much time you have and when you must close. Ask them about the experience and how long they have been working in the areas you’re interested in.
2. Communication: Keep the Lines Open
You need an agent who hears you, who understands what you want, who keeps you apprised of what’s going on throughout the search. How often do you want them to stay in touch with you? What method of communication do you hope they’ll use? Phone call? Email? Text? This is a good agent: responsive and proactive – answering my questions before I even ask, and sending me updates without me having to ask.
3. Negotiation Skills: Get the Best Deal
A good agent knows how to negotiate, and will put forward the best price and terms they can get for you. Perhaps the most important question concerns strategy and track record: how do they negotiate, and how often have they been successful in working out multiple offers or creating a situation of competitive bidding? A hard negotiator will save you tens of thousands of dollars and avoid you buying something overpriced.
4. Network: Connections Count
In other words, an experienced agent has a full roster of contacts: mortgage brokers whom they trusts; home inspectors who do a thorough job and then provide honest reports; real estate attorneys who understand the market well and can explain the fine print; stagers who know the market too, and who stage a home to its fullest potential. Do you really want to risk putting your life savings on the hunch that you converted the necessary mortgage formulas into Excel? Or would you rather have a savvy agent who connects you with the right people, ensures you’re making pre-approval decisions, provides support when the going gets tough?
5. Personality: Find Your Fit
Buying a home is one of the biggest purchases of your life – an emotional rollercoaster. What you look for in an agent should be someone you trust, someone you connect with and someone you feel comfortable sharing your anxieties with. Above all, go with your gut. Meet several agents and see who really listens to you. Do they really get you? The right agent will be your advocate, confidant, and partner throughout the homebuying journey.
Bonus Tip: Ask for References
Don't be afraid to ask potential agents for references from past clients. Speaking with past clients can provide you with a deep understanding of the agent’s work habits, communication style and success rate.
Finding the right buyer’s agent is one of the most important steps of the homebuying process. Make sure that he or she possesses as many of those qualities – local knowledge, excellent communication skills, strong negotiating skills, a large network of contacts, and a personality that works with yours – as possible, and it could be the easiest step in this big move toward the home you’ll love.