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Great Realtors should be held to a higher standard with their daily responsibilities and their fiduciary duty to their clients. Buying and selling a home can be a long and complicated process and it’s important to find a good and loyal realtor. Unfortunately, there are plenty of “bad Realtors”. What are a couple of signs that you have hired one?
How Are Their Communication Skills?
Does your real estate agent return your calls, text messages, or e-mails in a timely manner? Time is of the essence in real estate, so if it takes your agent hours or days to get back to you, odds are you might miss that new listing, an important deadline when you’re under contract, or a potential buyer if you are selling your home. Things are moving fast in the real estate world and your realtor must be attentive. Any delayed response can mean the difference between closing or losing a deal on your dream house.
While it’s true, your realtor can’t be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you should expect to hear back within an hour or so. Whether it’s by text, call, or email, they need to let you know they received your message and are working on the answer you want.
Is Real Estate Their Side Hustle?
It’s probably not a good idea to hire a realtor that also has a separate full-time job. There is a lot that goes into finding the buyers a perfect house or getting a seller’s house sold. There simply isn’t enough time to provide the full service that a client deserves if the realtor is unavailable during prime-time hours. It’s safe to believe that if the agent is doing this on the side, it’s not as important to them as it would be to someone who counts on the commission to feed their family.
Good Marketing Ideas?
You want a realtor with a marketing plan to sell your house. One that understands the importance of a web presence, one that will give your home the maximum exposure it needs to sell, and will have an appealing social media presence on all the important platforms. There should be high-definition, professional photos, and videos in the marketing plan. A solid staging strategy should be understood to make the greatest impact in photos as well as when the home is shown in person. In today’s market, it’s critical to have a realtor on your team willing to go the extra mile to sell your home.
Do You Feel Pressured?
Realtors can be the best person on your team, offering you support and keeping you in the know but they can also be pushy and try to pressure you to buy or sell. Your realtor is representing you and needs to be knowledgeable and ready to deal with negotiations. Don’t let him show you homes outside your budget and make sure to get any facts used in negotiating. Never be pressured into making an offer or accepting an offer before you are comfortable doing so. It’s your money.
The Bottom Line: Hiring the wrong realtor can make buying and selling a home more complicated and stressful than it must be. Successful agents are those who are passionate and enjoy what they do for a living. They have a deep passion for serving and helping people by showing them properties within their budget. When it comes to unearthing an unacceptable realtor, there are many ways to dig around before hiring them. Do your research!
Check their online presence (website, social media platforms) and ask for recommendations. Who you choose to work with is essential to the success of your house hunting & selling, so having the right realtor by your side can make a huge difference.