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Real Estate in Chantilly Blog

USING THE INTERNET TO SELECT A REAL ESTATE AGENT – PART 2

If you are using the Internet to help you screen and select a real estate agent you’d like to work with, this series is for you.   I started out with the assertion that this choice is consequential.  If you want a good outcome from your real estate transaction, you should definitely make a good selection of agent to assist you.

With just a little effort you can go into your choice of agent with confidence.  It is one of the biggest transactions of your financial life, so do give it the “due diligence” it deserves.  You will be rewarded for your efforts.

The second sign post I’d suggest you consider is whether your agent is a “one man band” or a team.  The issue here is the level of service and the quality of support you will be getting during the transaction.  There are great agents who choose to do everything as solo performers.  On the other hand, there are agents whose client service systems are not what they could or should be because they do too much on their own.

Remember, you can find an agent you may like that works on their own, and you may find an agent that you don’t like that has team support.  Of and by itself, this “sign post” is not a stand alone deal breaker.  But it is one part of the total package you should consider.

Would you hire an accountant, attorney, or physician who did all of their own administrative and other support work?  Would you feel comfortable knowing that a third or half of their time was not in the direct practice of their discipline, and therefore not contributing to their knowledge and skill as a practitioner?

On the other hand, would you be more comfortable knowing that there was more than one person attending to the myriad of details that are contained within every real estate transaction?   Would you feel more confident that the details of your purchase or sale would be better managed with the support of a team, rather than a single person?

In the earlier part of my career I worked pretty much on my own.  I know that since I have had several people to support me and my clients, as members of my team, I am better able to focus on the most important aspects of serving my clients.  It takes more work and effort to perform as a team, but I believe a well-integrated team is better positioned to provide exceptional service and support.

So…how can you discover how any agent you are considering deals with this issue?  From a distance, you can look at their web site and try to see if they promote a team approach.   Some agents do use Virtual Assistants, and this is one form of team support in which the Assistant is paid by the agent to help in the processing of each case.  This would not necessarily be evident from the agent’s website.  You can also simply ask the agent via email or through a phone contact about this issue.

If you’d like to see this series in video, visit our VIDEO CENTER and scroll down to “The Right Real Estate Agent for You.”

Feel free to  Contact Us with comments or questions.  And…if you want to get each new post on “The Straight Scoop” delivered to your email address, please use the “SUBSCRIBE” box in the upper area of this blog.

Next time around we’ll cover the third big sign post on your road to making a great agent selection.

[This post by Kathy O’Neal.  You can contact her at kathy@kathyoneal.com]]