On Instagram, you’ve seen a couple of times how long we fight until we found the right home for us. Plenty of frustration, work, and often unnecessary travel made it difficult to buy a home. That’s why I thought I could come up with some suggestions to help others find their home easier and faster.
Finding the right real estate agent can be a large project to undertake since your decisions can affect how much you’ll pay for a property and what properties you’ll get to see. So take the time to research your options and find a pro that will get you what you want!
Here are the top things you should consider.
Ask For Recommendations
Talk to friends and family who have recently purchased a home, and ask for their recommendations on real estate agents. Their suggestions are useful because they can give you exact information about when they hired this agent. Ask them about the listing price versus how much they got the home for if they could get any perks thrown in, and how they felt about the overall deal. If you know a couple of new homeowners, don’t be scared to ask for multiple opinions.
Get Pre-Approved First
Before you look for an agent, you need to get pre-approved if you want to buy a house. This pre-approval takes an average of one to three days and will show that you’re serious about buying a home. Real estate agents understand that you’re serious about buying if you’re pre-approved and looking at St. Albert real estate. If you approach them without this pre-approval, they may put you on the back burner while talking to another buyer who’s ready.
Getting your pre-approval first will also save you the stress of knowing whether or not you qualify before you try to get the ball rolling.
Ensure They Can Close The Deal
There’s no use in an agent who can’t barter or doesn’t know how to get the price of something you can use better. If they tell you to accept the listing price, and you’re not in a sellers’ market: it’s time to look at your other options. Please pay attention to what others have gotten from this agent, and ask them questions about the market. If the agent you’re talking to seems frazzled or not confident, their naivety could result in you having to pay tens of thousands of dollars more than you’d have to pay otherwise. Think your options through clearly.
Don’t Be Afraid To Interview Them.
If you’re not sure about a couple of these items from just talking to them, it’s okay to interview a possible real estate agent and be straightforward. They do this for a living and are used to people wanting to check their credentials. Of course, an agent and a realtor are different because of their accreditation, but this swings in your favor since agents are often far less expensive than realtors who had to have more formal training.
Ask your possible agent questions like what neighborhoods in the area are growing the fastest and if they’ve been able to bargain and get the price down.
Although it may feel embarrassing to interview a professional for something like this: buying a house is a huge decision. It’s completely okay to be unsure and need a professional to step in. Make sure you pick the right agent, and everything will go smoothly.
