If you want to buy or sell a house, one of the most important things you need to do is find the right realtor. Working with a great real estate agent can make a huge impact throughout the entire buying or selling process.
There are three things that you want in a real estate agent. They should have a depth of knowledge, the ability to listen well, and experience.
Let’s explore each of these in more depth.
What To Look For:
Knowledge
Good Listener
Experience
Conclusion
knowledge
This should come as no surprise. You want someone who is knowledgeable about the buying or selling process.
Here is how you can find out if an agent is knowledgeable. Ask them about the market in a specific neighborhood. Agents don’t necessarily need to know intimate details about every single neighborhood, but an agent that does their homework will be able to tell you about the market at a neighborhood level.
You might be surprised by how much the market changes across the city. Not every neighborhood will follow the overall trends of the city or metroplex area.
It’s also important to find an agent that is familiar with the type of house you are buying. If you want to buy a new house, find an agent who has experience with new houses. There are little things that an agent who generally sells pre-owned homes might not notice that an agent who has more experience with new homes will.
An agent with knowledge is especially important right now because the market is shifting. Over the past year and a half, it really did not take much to sell a house, but now that the market is slowing, you want someone who is up to date on everything that is happening.
good listener
It’s so important to find an agent that listens. There is so much more to realty than just the monetary part of the transaction. You want an agent who understands where you have been and where you are trying to go.
Unfortunately, there are some agents who are simply not good at listening carefully to what you want or are looking for.
This is the hardest of the three traits to test. You could possibly mention something very early on then ask them about it later, but by that later point, it may be too late.
experience
A couple good ways to find out what kind of experience an agent has is to ask how long it takes them to sell a house on average. This may be a little skewed over the past few years but it is good information to have.
It can also be great to ask what the hardest house they’ve ever sold was. This can give you some great insight into the challenges they have faced and how they managed them.
If you want to do a little more research yourself, you can ask if they have any old listings that you can take a look at to see how long it was on the market and what it sold for. You can also look any agent up on the Texas Real Estate Commission website to see how long they have had their license.
I don’t think a lack of experience is necessarily a bad thing. Young real estate agents hustle. They work hard to get listings and get houses sold because they don’t have another option.
For me, experience is almost like the icing on the cake. An agent with experience will be able to help you in situations that aren’t guaranteed to come up, but if they do, you’re glad you have an agent with experience.
conclusion
If you would like to buy or sell a property in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, don’t hesitate to call the number on our site. We would love to help you find your dream home.
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