How to find the best real estate agent

Whether you are buying or selling property, it remains a huge financial endeavour. As a seller, you want to make the largest profit possible, whether selling your home or an investment property. The sales price achieved will determine the success of your initial investment, as well as your financial position going forward. As a buyer, you are looking for a bargain – thus to pay as little as possible. If you are looking for an investment property, you need to invest in a property that will generate good yields and attract tenants. If you are looking for a home, you need to find a property that meets your lifestyle goals, future needs and budget – a place where you can start to build your future. As a buyer, this also usually means a large monetary outlay, making it vital that you invest smartly.

But how can you ensure that your investment is a sound one? Or that you will achieve the highest possible price when selling? One way to do this is to appoint a reputable and qualified real estate agent. The right real estate agent will be able to guide you on your journey, whether you are buying or selling. The right real estate agent will be able to simplify the complicated property sales process for you, help you understand the industry jargon and keep you from making financially unsound decisions.

This is why finding a quality real estate agent to represent your interests is so vital. But how do you find this elusive perfect real estate agent? As with most searches these days, the hunt for the perfect real estate agent tends to start online. The internet has changed the way we find and consume information, and this also holds true for the real estate industry. Before even starting your search for a quality real estate agent, you need to know what you need from your agent. If you’re a seller, you need someone who understands the market, knows how to correctly price a home, how to market your property effectively, and so forth.

If you’re a buyer, your agent needs to be able to guide you on your property journey, understand the areas you are looking in and your needs, detangle the complexities of a property sale, and so forth.

One of the easiest ways to find a real estate that can effectively represent you is to make use of an agent finder like Perfect Agent. Perfect Agent does all the legwork for you – free of charge – and recommends only top-performing real estate agents in your area of interest.

Where to find a real estate agent online

With all the information available on the internet, you might feel overwhelmed – where should you start your search for a real estate agent? What sources should you trust? How can you tell if a real estate agent is reputable and worthy of your trust?

As finding your dream home or selling a property are both huge financial endeavours, you want to ensure that you and your money are in the best qualified hands possible.

One way to ease your burden, and help ensure your success, is to rely on the expertise of a non-biased third party. Instead of sifting through reams of information online, why not let someone else do the heavy lifting for you?

Perfect Agent, an agent finder, offers a free service to help you find a licensed real estate agent best suited to your particular property needs. All you have to do is to take two minutes to fill out a quick survey of your buying or selling needs online. Perfect Agent will provide you with the details of two to three qualified, top-performing real estate agents in your area of interest – within 48 hours.

This means no fuss or hassle for you – and you can rest assured that you will be in good hands.

Compare real estate agents

Before any large purchase, say, for example, a fridge, you will do research into the different brands available, and compare them with each other to ensure you get the most bang for your buck. The same should be true for real estate agents – don’t simply go with the first available agent you encounter. Compare agents’ experience, track record of success, online reviews, and so forth before choosing the agent you think will best be able to help you reach your goals. Agent finders like Perfect Agent can do these comparisons for you, free of charge, providing you with licensed, top-performing agents in your area of interest.

Interview your real estate agent candidates

Once you have a shortlist of real estate agents, you should interview each of them to see who will be best able to meet your needs and help you to achieve success.

It is very important that you feel comfortable with the estate agent. Property sales can be stressful, and you need to be able to ask important questions and get honest answers.

Ask the agent about his or her background in the area you’re interested in. How long have they been active in your area? How many successful sales have they facilitated in the last six months? How will they go about helping you? What is their strategy?

Discuss your needs with the estate agent, and ask questions to see if they’ve understood your requirements. Also ask for references from previous clients – you want to ensure that they will go the extra mile for you.

What to look for in a real estate agent

The qualities an agent will need to best assist you will depend on whether you’re buying or selling.

If you’re a seller, the real estate agent will need to have the following qualities:

• The real estate agent needs to understand the market in your area. How many successful sales have they had in your suburb?
• The real estate agent needs to know how to price your home correctly. If a home is overpriced it will linger on the market and lose valuable marketing time. How did the estate agent decide on the recommended price for your home? They need to be able to explain their process to you, and motivate why your home will sell at their recommended price.
• The real estate agent must be good at marketing. What strategy will they implement to ensure a successful sale? Why are they convinced this is the best course of action for your home? A real estate agent should present you with a comprehensive sales and marketing strategy, and answer all these questions.
• A reputable real estate agent must always be honest with you, especially regarding issues you might not be aware of, for example factors that might count against you during the sale.
• A real estate agent must be able to take good photographs of your home, or employ a photographer. With most home searches starting online, photos are the first aspect potential buyers will see. If the photos are not good, they might not even bother taking a further look at your home.
• A good real estate agent must be a good communicator. You are selling a valuable asset, and deserve to stay in the loop and be able to easily communicate with your chosen real estate agent.
• Your real estate agent must be a good negotiator. Your chosen real estate agent will be negotiating with buyers on your behalf, and you want him or her to be able to get the best deal.

If you’re a buyer, your real estate agent should have the following qualities:

• The real estate agent must understand the market you are looking into. The agent you work with must have a keen grip on property values, trends, developments and so forth in the area you are interest in.
• The real estate agent must understand your needs. To find the best home for you, your agent has to have a good understanding of what you are looking for, your lifestyle needs, budget and so forth, otherwise he or she will just waste your time by showing you inappropriate listings.
• The real estate agent must have good negotiation skills. Your agent will be your go-between with the seller or buyer, and needs to be able to negotiate the best deal possible for you.
• A good real estate agent must be a good communicator. The real estate agent needs to guide you on your journey, help you understand everything involved in the buying process, break down the industry jargon, and so forth.

Hire your real estate agent

Once you’ve settled on the real estate agent you want to represent you, make sure there is a solid agreement in place. If you are a seller, you will need to sign a mandate with the agent. This agreement will stipulate the agent’s commission, how long the mandate is valid for, as well as other important binding information, like additional marketing costs.

Conclusion

Buying or selling property can be a long and arduous process, and one way to ensure success is by working with a reputable real estate agent. However, finding a licensed agent who will represent you to the best of their abilities can also be challenging. This is where agent finders like Perfect Agent can help you. Simply complete a quick assessment of your property needs online, and we will get back to you with quotes from two to three top-performing real estate agents in your area of interest within 48 hours. Are you looking for an agent to help you achieve your property goals? Contact Perfect Agent today.