First of, 9 is my lucky number and for me, these are the ones that really matter before you start dealing and entrusting them with your property or simply purchasing one. I want to be clear that this checklist isn’t for your unlicensed nuisance agents. It is best to always deal with a licensed professional who carries your fiduciary trust to heart. This checklist will weed out those who still has to polish their selling game and help you find the better Real Estate Broker that you’ll be comfortable working with. Most importantly, the one who will assist and take care of you.
Let these questions fly away,
- How many years have you been in the real estate business?
– Experience plays a BIG role especially with complicated real estate contracts and transactions. You also don’t want a person representing you who can’t carry himself/herself dealing with other brokers and owners.
- How many real estate transactions have you completed in the last 2 years?
– Present and consistent success is important. He/She could’ve been the superstar broker a few years back though that doesn’t count anymore.
- What was the average price of homes you helped buy or sell?
– It gives you an idea on his/her strengths and gauge where to position your property.
- What are the current real estate organizations you’re affiliated with?
– It’s good to know his/her connections and how far their reach is to sell your property or find that home you’ll love.
- How familiar are you with the area, neighborhood and city?
– Very important as this is an advantage a broker can use to get you a good deal. They are knowledgeable of listings not even out in the market yet.
- What type of properties do you usually deal with?
– There are brokers with a specific expertise and it may be either Residential or Commercial. There are also some who does both and some that are very familiar with foreclosures, pre-selling properties, office rentals, etc. So choose the one who can represent you well.
- How many clients do you work with at a given time?
– You’re trying to know how much time you’ll be getting from this broker and how hard he/she will push to get this done. That’s why some prefer to work with persistent real estate brokers with smaller teams rather than big brokerage companies who runs the risk of you getting shelved.
- How shall we communicate throughout this process and what are your plans the next six (6) months?
– It is just to get yourself accustomed to each other on how to communicate in moving forward. Some clients don’t want to be bothered by calls and prefers to be just updated through mail and some vice-versa. It’ll be vital to be informed if he’s leaving the country soon or will just stay put and do the needed work to get the job done.
- Shall I be speaking directly with you or your assistant?
– Everybody wants their broker to personally assist them so it’ll be good to know how available he is and how he prioritizes you.
So take a good eye on how they’ll answer your questions. How they handle themselves going through these will show how they are when they start representing you. The connection and camaraderie are important as some transactions will go through a long and tedious process. You may not feel it instantly so if it’ll help, you can throw in some personal questions to get your final decision.
In the end, the key here is to get someone who is licensed with experience and you’ll be in good hands. Everything else will follow.
By: Peter Norrdell
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