How to choose the best realtor for your real estate needs

Any real estate transaction – whether it’s a sale or a home purchase – can instantly become a smoother experience when you work with a competent and experienced professional. Here are eight tips to keep in mind if you’re looking for the right partner to work with for your real estate needs:

Review their qualifications and specializations

Checking relevant real estate background and training is an excellent way to start filtering your prospects. Credentials and awards are easily measurable criteria that can tell you about an agent’s skills and competencies. In addition to basic qualifications, look into any particular specializations that are relevant to your needs. For example, if you are buying or selling in the luxury market, choosing an agent who specializes in handling high-end properties and customers is an advantage because they are more familiar with the nuances of this market.

Check how long they have been working in the local real estate market

Experience is always the best teacher, especially in a dynamic industry like real estate. Real estate professionals deal with different types of customers, each with a different set of requirements, interests, and even quirks. An agent who has spent years navigating sales or purchases in the local real estate market will already have a rich bank of experiences, strategies, and responses to address your specific needs.

Ask about the biggest challenges they have faced in their jobs and what they did to resolve them

Real estate agents are supposed to be expert strategists and problem-solvers. Find out how your prospects deal with challenges and pressure by asking them to recount their worst experiences on the job. Their answers will provide important insights on how helpful these candidates will be if your transaction goes sideways for any reason. You can also have a glimpse of their honesty and transparency by asking this question, especially when an agent is open enough to share about any failed strategies and transactions during your interview.

Inquire about their local professional network

Experienced real estate professionals provide the bonus benefit of a reliable pool of local professional partners. Through the years, agents build trust and rapport around their local communities, and as a result they gain important connections that their future customers can utilize for their needs. If a prospect can provide you with an extensive list of referrals for lenders, home inspectors and appraisers, stagers and photographers, moving companies, and other relevant services, you’re heading in the right direction.

Ask for a list of references, including previous customers

While you’re already inquiring about your potential agent’s network, make sure to ask for references that can provide you with more information. While colleagues and other professional partners can give you glowing recommendations of your candidate, you’ll be better off if you can speak with a few of their previous customers instead. Former clients can give you insights about their first-hand experiences working with your prospective agent. They are more likely to be candid about any challenges they may have encountered, and more importantly, how the agent navigated them to produce successful results in the end.

Be clear about the habits and modes of communication that the agent uses

Do you prefer sending text messages over making calls, or vice versa? Do you want regular updates, or would you rather hear from your agent whenever you want updates? Find out how your potential agent will keep in touch with you throughout your transaction. In the same way that you have your own preferences, so do agents have different approaches to keeping their clients in the loop about the latest developments.

Make them ask you questions

While interviewing potential agents, it shouldn’t be just you who is asking all the questions. A good agent will also try to dive deeper into your needs and motivations as a real estate buyer or seller. Carefully evaluate the questions that your prospects ask you. These can be very telling about the level of dedication and sincerity that you can expect from them should you push through with a working relationship.

Look for chemistry, too

Reviewable credentials and favorable work habits are great, but those are only a portion of what you will need in a great real estate agent to match your needs. Because real estate transactions tend to be long-winded and even stressful processes, you must make sure that the agent you work with is someone that you can easily get along with under pressure, instead of someone you might potentially clash with when the going gets tough. Find your ideal professional partner as you search for the best homes for sale in Roswell, Sandy Springs, Brookhaven, and many other Metro Atlanta communities with the Page Morgan Real Estate Group. Call us at 770.579.5650 or send us an email at info(at)pagemorgan(dotted)com to get to know our local real estate experts better.