Finding Your Dream Home: Step 1
Goal: Finding Your Dream Home
Step One: Find The Right Buyer’s Agent!
Find an agent who is based in the area you hope to find your home. This agent will often times specialize in that area and have a significantly more in depth knowledge to answer your questions.
The next part of Step One is: The Interview Process
This step will help you determine with confidence whether or not you have the right agent. First find three agents to interview. These agents can be someone you found through a friend or family member who had a great experience, from the internet using local search sites, or from your local better business bureau (www.bbb.com). These agents can be from the same firm however I recommend you interview one agent per firm because you are also interviewing the firm that backs that agent.
In the interview process ask them a series of questions about what they have to offer you and what they and their firm do to set themselves apart from the competition. I recommend asking the agent for references of people that they have worked with in the area that you are looking. Many times agents will have a list of testimonials from previous clients; however ask them for a client or two that wouldn’t mind a quick phone call about their experience with the agent in question. A good agent should have all of this available to you.
As you chat with this person, pay close attention to the types of questions that they ask you. It is very important to find an agent that knows the right type of questions to ask to gain an in depth understanding of what you are looking for. Ask them about how busy they are. Let them know that you serious and are looking for an agent that will answer your phone calls or at least return messages the same day. Finding a home is a time sensitive business and your agent should treat you as a priority.
You should also pay close attention to how well you get along with them. A good agent will always be a great listener and never talk over you or ask you questions that you have already answered. You should feel comfortable with them right away. By the end of the interview if you don’t feel like you are as comfortable talking with them as you are a friend, this may not be the right person to work with. There are so many amazing people in this profession that there is no reason to settle on someone you are not absolutely comfortable with. You may end up needing to interview more than three agents but the little extra time you put in up front could not only save you tons of time while looking, it can also save you money and disappointment!
Stay tuned for Step Two!
Posted at 11:03AM Jul 27, 2009 by Bob Billimack in Buying Comments[2]
Posted by Sam Goody on August 01, 2009 at 08:35 PM CDT #
Here are two courses of action to locate an agent if you haven’t narrowed down your area of interest yet:
1. Do some research on your areas of interest. Almost any information you desire is accessible using Google.com. If you aren’t sure what area you are interested in living in, it will be very difficult for an agent to help make up your mind. This may or may not be true depending on what criteria you have for narrowing down your choices. Without having a conversation with you it is difficult to guess what your needs are for a neighborhood. If you are wondering about things such as night life, school systems, proximity to public transportation, etc. an agent will be able to help you with those types of things. If your criteria for narrowing down your search include things such as demographics, crime, etc., your agent will not, by law, be able to do anything but point you to websites or other sources of information. Most major cities have websites for public information such as this. In Chicago, you can check out www.CityofChicago.org. Once you have narrowed your search down to one or two areas, then go find your agent.
1. Depending on how far your areas are from each other you could find one agent for each area. Oftentimes if you are considering say, the city vs. the suburbs, a city agent will not travel to the suburbs (in many cases) and the same is true in reverse for the suburban agent. In this case, you can repeat step one to find an agent for each area you are considering. Also, make it clear to your agents that you are working with a specialist for each area of consideration. Most will be very understanding of this and you will get the best results by having an agent that isn’t lacking. Also, if you find an agent you like in one area, oftentimes they have a referral network that can help you find a great agent in another area, too.
Hope this helps and please check back from time to time for further Steps To Finding Your Dream Home from Dream Town Realty
Posted by Spencer Mason on August 07, 2009 at 04:28 PM CDT #