Buying or selling a home is one of the most important personal business transactions most people will ever make in their life. For many, buying or selling a home is a stressful and emotional process that can be made easier with the guidance of an experienced real estate agent. A great agent should not only be up to date on the real estate market in your area, but should be able to thoroughly understand your unique needs and lead you to the perfect home.
At MBA Residential, our team of experienced agents are here to do more than just facilitate a transaction. We take the time to deeply listen to your situation and earn your trust. We value a transparent and honest relationship with our clients and always have your best interests at heart.
1. Find an agent you can TRUST
You absolutely need your agent to be honest with you about what it is going to take to sell your home for the best price, or find you a home that you love. You need to trust that your agent is going to tell it to you straight and not waste your time (and money).
2. Consider their passion for the industry
How hard will they be fighting for you? There are a lot of agents who dabble with real estate as a career or are not fully invested in the realtor life. Strongly consider an agent with significant industry experience who lives and breathes real estate.
3. Value experience
The wisdom that comes from years of experience in the real estate industry can be invaluable. Look at your potential agents track record and their history of listings. Have they sold a lot of homes like yours? Are they experts in your geographical area? Have they lived in this area most of their life?
4. Ask about their support system
Make sure your agent has sufficient support in place to meet the demands of their clients. This might include a transaction coordinator, administrative support, and marketing assistance. Teams within larger agencies, like MBA Residential at Keller Williams in Beverly, are an excellent choice to ensure nothing about your transaction will fall through the cracks.
5. Know their values
After your first meeting with a potential agent, you should be able to identify their core values. Make sure the person you are going to work with is aligned with you.
6. Prioritize communication
Your agent should value transparency and honesty, but they also need to be a great communicator. Make your preferences about communication known – do you prefer text, email, phone, DM? How often? Make sure your agent is aware of your expectations regarding communication and that they can sufficiently meet them.
7. Check them out online
Most agents have a website you can check out, but be sure to also look at their social media. Are they passionate about their clients? How active are they about marketing their listing on social? Do they celebrate their clients wins? You can learn a lot about who an agent is as a person and what they value by examining their profiles.
8. Ask around (or read reviews)
A strong referral from a friend is an excellent first step in finding a great agent, because you know they were successful enough already to be earning your friend’s support. Also look on Zillow for local agents with a high number of 5 star reviews and read what their clients had to say.
9. Go with your gut
This person might be in your life for a long time, so make sure they are someone who feel very comfortable with. Are they someone you can talk to? Do they listen? Do they meet your emotional needs? The real estate buying and selling process can be extremely stressful and often time consuming, so make sure you consider a strong personality match in your agent.
10. Don’t feel pressured to choose the first agent you speak to
Interview at least 3 agents before making a decision. You do not need to feel pressured to sign with an agent just because you met with them as a potential partner.
