Can You Trust Your Friends, Family and Acquaintances for Your Real Estate Needs?

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When you get down to it, most real estate agents have a very low track record in terms of the number of homes sold on average each year. In fact, they don’t even sell a home for months on end. The fewer the homes that are sold translates to less experience and at the end of the day when you have an agent that may not know all of the ins and outs of the industry handling your transactions, you really stand to risk quite a lot.

What Factors Matter In Hiring the Right Realtor For You?

There are many things to look for when you are shopping for the perfect agent. Do they have a long-running track record? Have they been servicing the area for some time? Are they qualified specifically to the area you are considering or is their range of professional reach very wide so that they may not be able to provide pinpointed advice or expert knowledge of the vicinity? You want to make sure that aside from their references, you have the opportunity to speak with a few current clients to gauge the agent’s performance. Another thing to note is their performance in terms of both selling and buying transactions. What forms of marketing do they engage in and are they reasonably accessible? It is a good idea to list your priorities in terms of the real estate transactions you have in mind so you can match a potential Realtor with those needs.

Politely Declining To Work With A Realtor

Obtaining a real estate license is a fairly easy thing to do; after 40 hours or so of instruction, most states will grant a license to sell property and handle real estate transactions. Given the ease of this for most people, there is a plethora of agents in most markets and the chances of your knowing someone that fits this description are very high. But how does one assert that they would rather work with someone else for their property endeavors? The best way to manage this is to politely explain that since this is one of the largest financial transactions of your life you would rather prefer to work with an agent that you have hand-picked to suit your specific needs. If the agent you are explaining this to is a true friend in the first place, you should not have much trouble with this as they would have your best interests at heart. Keep in mind also, that there is a much greater chance of the relationship going awry in case something goes wrong in the transaction. Another factor that can be brought up is that the ability to demand professionalism becomes very difficult when dealing with someone you already know or are close to. This applies to both the homebuyer/seller and the agent.
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The bottom line is this: It is never a good idea to choose a Realtor just because of your prior relationship with them. Always, always choose your real estate agent based on your needs and their qualifications.