If you’re looking for a good purchasing agent, be prepared to do a lot of interviewing. Unless you’re lucky enough to have met someone you ‘click’ with early on, finding a good fit for your home search will require deliberate evaluation.
You can find buyers’ agents everywhere: in the phone book, online, at open houses, at house shows, and sometimes in hobbies you share. Finding a buyer’s agent is easy. Finding a good purchasing agent takes time and effort.
This may well be the most expensive purchase you make in your life. You should feel comfortable with the agent you choose. This requires a face-to-face interview. You are interviewing the agent, but a good agent is also interviewing you. They need to come to a mutual decision to work together. It’s not impossible for an agent to refer you to someone they think has more experience than them, or for you to decide you’re not comfortable with the agent’s attitude.
You want to know what experience the agent has in the local market. How many years have they been in business? How many successful purchases have they helped with in the last year? What about the houses they’ve sold? What part of your community do they specialize in?
Another issue is communication. A good agent will be clear about how and when they will contact you. You want to know how the agent prefers to communicate and when they will contact you with answers to their questions. You should also ask when is the best time to contact the agent; many agents have ‘business hours’ when they are available for a phone call.
Your agent should be interested in your unique housing needs. They should encourage him to discuss the ideal home he wants and categorize his wants and needs. Ask what price range they normally sell in; A real estate agent selling $500,000 homes may not have as much experience with the needs of people who can only afford a $200,000 home.
What does the buyer’s agent do for you? Will they find houses for you to look at or will you do your own search? Or both? Will they handle things like appraisals, inspections, and insurance? Will they be there at closing?
The best testimonials of a good buying agent are previous satisfied buyers. Ask for three references and call them to discuss the agent. Listen carefully to what the references say and take notes to review later.
Once you have all the information, it’s time to make a decision about which agent to choose. Confirm that the agent will work with you and start looking for your home. You may want to send a polite note to the other agents that you’ve gone with a different agent and thanking them for their time; If the agent you choose doesn’t work, you may call one of them.
