If you are using the Internet to screen and select a real estate agent to work with, this series is for you. There are Sign Posts on the way to a great agent. I want to share them so you’ll make a choice that is right for you.
Brief recap: I started by suggesting you should first know the level of experience of the prospective agent. Then we considered the matter of solo agent vs a team. Now we’ll consider the issue of quality.
In just about any field you will have a spectrum of quality, from low to high, with many shades of variation along the way. My my, is this ever true in real estate! And, the consequences of a mis-handled transaction can be huge, so your judgments about the agent’s quality are important.
With just a little bit of effort you should be able to get a reasonable sense of whether your approach to quality is matched by the agent’s approach. But where do you look?
If you don’t want to have personal contact with anyone before you have a better sense of what they are all about – a common preference especially among Internet empowered consumers – start with a careful look at their website. The website is one of the primary technology tools in the agent’s tool kit. What does it reveal about their approach to working with tech savvy consumers? Moreover, what does it say, if anything, about their business philosophy and approach to working with clients? Does it inspire confidence, or is it just OK?
In the same context, does the agent have a blog? The answer to that question tells you something about their technology approach. If they do have a blog, you may find lots of revealing information within the content that will tell you about who this person is and what they are about. Take just a little time to review the blog content. If it is maintained with current content, it may tell you a lot about the agent and their quality sensibility.
If you have progressed to the step of having a conversation with the agent you can, of course, ask a few questions that are important to you about what you want to know. My questions would include both of the first two “sign posts” we previously discussed (experience and team) as well as those we have yet to discuss in this series. Regarding quality, I would simply ask an opened-ended question that lets the agent discuss how they work to ensure a quality experience for their clients. Something like, “Can you tell me about the approach you take and the things you do to make sure we get a good result?..tell me how you work with your clients?”
Listen carefully to their answer. And factor this into the other sign posts. Be honest with yourself about your assessment. You may like the agent’s personality – and this is important, you need some chemistry – but I want to emphasize that you should not make this decision on personality alone.
A great agent will welcome your level of interest, and will want to share all the many things they do behind the scenes that many consumers don’t know about.
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.”
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Next time around we’ll cover the fourth big sign post on your road to making a great agent selection.