Several of you out there have bought a house. And some of you have bought more than one house. What are good questions to ask when interviewing/searching for a realtor?
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
We had a realtor that was used to more upscale clientele, I think. Then we ditched her and went with the saleslady that wooed Ben with tales of newhomeliness. I'm pretty sure the realtor blacklisted us. You are already doing better than we did with the fact that you are going to interview your realtor. Go Biffyadam!
I don't know how much it matters - you still need to watch out for yourself. The job in their eyes isn't to find the best deal. The more expensive the house - the bigger their cut is.
Having a list of what you need, not want helps. Having a firm amount of money to spend helps. Not looking at houses that are too expensive helps--it is a waste of time and too tempting. You and Adam HAVE to agree on all those points before you go to the realtor. Make sure she respects your boundaries and understands them before you go out.
Oh wow. We just bought a house (closing on Monday) and we had the best realtor ever. She's been a friend of the family for several years. I was going to write a blog in 2 weeks after we'd moved in about all the great things about this realtor. Stay tuned to my blog---maybe I'll even write it early for ya. :)
Anyhow, really quickly, what I would do is ask around and get other people's opinions. When you're interviewing a realtor, ask if he/she can provide you with clients who can give you a referral. Talking to past clients will be the best way to get a feel for how good a realtor is.
I'll post in more detail about what made our realtor so good, but you want: a realtor who will answer your phone calls and quickly get back to you, one who is really knowledgeable and experienced, one who will present the risks/benefits/options for you but who will not pressure you to make a decision you want, one who will get a good feel for what kind of house "turns you on" and then send you more houses like that, one who has good "bedside manners" since you'll be doing a lot of driving around with them (so pick someone you can get along with!), etc.
I'll post more in my blog later!
P.S. I really hope your kids don't have the swine flu or that they get over it without any problems. That's seriously my worst fear right now.
4 comments:
We had a realtor that was used to more upscale clientele, I think. Then we ditched her and went with the saleslady that wooed Ben with tales of newhomeliness. I'm pretty sure the realtor blacklisted us. You are already doing better than we did with the fact that you are going to interview your realtor. Go Biffyadam!
I don't know how much it matters - you still need to watch out for yourself. The job in their eyes isn't to find the best deal. The more expensive the house - the bigger their cut is.
Having a list of what you need, not want helps. Having a firm amount of money to spend helps. Not looking at houses that are too expensive helps--it is a waste of time and too tempting. You and Adam HAVE to agree on all those points before you go to the realtor. Make sure she respects your boundaries and understands them before you go out.
Oh wow. We just bought a house (closing on Monday) and we had the best realtor ever. She's been a friend of the family for several years. I was going to write a blog in 2 weeks after we'd moved in about all the great things about this realtor. Stay tuned to my blog---maybe I'll even write it early for ya. :)
Anyhow, really quickly, what I would do is ask around and get other people's opinions. When you're interviewing a realtor, ask if he/she can provide you with clients who can give you a referral. Talking to past clients will be the best way to get a feel for how good a realtor is.
I'll post in more detail about what made our realtor so good, but you want: a realtor who will answer your phone calls and quickly get back to you, one who is really knowledgeable and experienced, one who will present the risks/benefits/options for you but who will not pressure you to make a decision you want, one who will get a good feel for what kind of house "turns you on" and then send you more houses like that, one who has good "bedside manners" since you'll be doing a lot of driving around with them (so pick someone you can get along with!), etc.
I'll post more in my blog later!
P.S. I really hope your kids don't have the swine flu or that they get over it without any problems. That's seriously my worst fear right now.
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