CHOOSING A REAL ESTATE AGENT

A real estate agent is a person who is authorized to act as an agent for the sale of real estate property. It is important that you choose the right agent as he or she can make all the difference in ensuring a trouble-free process when buying, selling or renting property. Buying or selling your home can be a major event in many people’s lives, and it makes sense to get help from a professional whose abilities you are confident of.

Here are the following questions one should ask a prospective real estate agent:

 Ask if they are licensed and if the license if updated.
 Ask if they work part time or full time for you. You’d want to sell your house ASAP, thus you would require their full attention and marketing it part time will surely cause a delay in your sale.
 Ask them regarding any training they have undertaken and if the training is current. Ask if they are Internet savvy because you may want to list your home in real estate web sites.
 It would be a good idea to ask your real estate agent to provide you with the current listings in your area. This includes which houses are on sale and their respecting selling prices, as well as the full details of the property, i.e. area of the land, floor area of the house, inclusions etc. this should guide you in coming up with the right price when selling your home.
 Ask the agent their strategy in selling your home. It would be ideal to get their selling plans in writing. You would want your home to be seen in practically all listings i.e. the web, print etc. when certain expectations are not met it would be a major disappointment to the seller, so it would be good to have the agent commit to this written list of strategies in selling your home.
 Ask if they will accept a contract for 90 days or less. Some agents try and force you into exclusive contracts for six months to a year or more, and the drawback to this is that the agent may begin to slack off his job later on. Your home doesn’t get sold and may end up sitting there for a year, or even longer.