BUYER RESOURCES
The real estate market is fast moving and ever changing, there is a lot of information to sort through when buying or selling a home and much of this information comes from inexperienced agents, or agents who worked in previous eras. There are over 40,000 real estate agents in the State of Maryland alone, and the large majority are inactive or barely active. Many people get into this industry as an extra way to make money off of their family and friends, or as a side income apart from their full time employment. This is sometimes much more damaging to the industry because these people provide a disservice to their clients by not fully understanding the market and local industry that they are involved in. There is a huge difference between a real estate agent and a real estate professional, although many agents will address themselves as the latter. Being a real estate agent is a sales position, and with sales comes a lot of marketing and extra “fluff” that doesn’t really mean anything. There are many titles, awards, and accolades that any agent can give to themselves in order to impress their potential clients. The truth is this: Good agents come highly recommended, are active in their communities, and are highly visible. There are many things that make an agent an extraordinary agent, and why you must examine those things to make sure an agent is a good fit for you.
Availability
Is this agent a full time agent that is available at all times to answer your questions. Are they available to help you, and immediately address any issues that you may have? Are they willing to get you immediately out to see properties before they are gone in a fast moving market? Do they have team members that are available to help should they be momentarily unavailable? A good team is a well oiled machine. It is much better going into a transaction with a group of people working for you instead of just one.
Communication
This goes hand in hand with availability. One of the number one complaints that we receive about other agents is that they simply don’t communicate with their clients, nor have time to communicate. No one wants to be left in the dark, especially when making a huge financial decision such as buying or selling a home. When things begin to go wrong many agents disappear and are hard to reach. You want someone that will be transparent with you and communicate with you while offering solutions.
Confidence
No one wants someone representing them in a transaction that isn’t confident about their own abilities, or confident enough to negotiate correctly with other professionals. You need someone that is aggressive enough to get you the answers you need, or to negotiate the issues that you have, but not so aggressive that they scare people away. Another complaint that we receive often about other agents is that they are too timid or passive. For some this comes from inexperience, and for others it comes from their natural personality. While there is nothing wrong with having a passive personality, it doesn’t bode well in sales where issues need to be addressed and negotiated accordingly.
Knowledge
One of the biggest pitfalls in hiring a real estate agent is when people hire someone that hey know who is unexperienced only because they believe they will serve them honestly. This may be true, and loyalty is a great quality to have. Just make sure that the agent that you hire is extremely versed in market conditions, and new regulations in an ever changing, fast paced market. I have dealt with agents many times in this market that didn’t know how to email, or scan a document, let alone know how to negotiate a contract correctly. There is a lot to constantly learn in real estate, it is an every changing industry. Make sure that the agent that you hire is well versed in the current market if you want to maximize your sale or purchase.
Compassion
In any sales industry there are those who are in it for the fast money and those who are in it for the long haul. Anyone who plans on being in the real estate industry for the long haul knows that this business is about relationships. Relationships come from happy clients and happy clients bring referrals. The best agents are those who truly care about their clients, who are willing to put their clients happiness above their own paycheck, and go the extra mile to ensure success in every transaction no matter what it takes. A desperate agent will cut corners to receive a paycheck and often times major problems will arise.
Humble
This may seem contradictory to confidence and aggression that is mentioned above, but there is a time and place for everything. When you hire an agent, they work for you. Most agents forget this. They bark orders at their clients, argue with their clients and place demands on their clients. That is not our job. We make suggestions that will help you to maximize your profit while having a smooth transaction, but we also let you know that we work for you. Ultimately, every decision during the transaction is yours, we simply make suggestions and guide the way.
Expendable
This goes right along with “humble” as mentioned above. We realize that we are only a handful of agents in a pool of 40,000 plus. We are honored that you chose us and will treat you as such. At any point during our business relationship, if you were to ever think we weren’t living up to your standards we would gladly let you out of the contract. We strongly believe in not holding people against their will. It is because of this accountability that we place upon ourselves, that we will go the extra mile to work hard for you in every aspect of the transaction.
Involved In The Community
As in any profession, we make money off of the community that we serve. We believe that it is only right to not only offer affordable prices to our community, but to serve the community every chance that we get as well. We are tied into a local non-profit and give back wholeheartedly to our community through many different charity efforts.
Competitive
Our goal is victory in every transaction, for every seller and every buyer and we will not rest until we achieve it. You want someone with competitive spirit and especially someone who has a whole team behind them that shares in that same competitive spirit. As a client, you are our most important focus, and we take great pride in making sure that you are treated the best, and that we achieve victory together. Finding an agent that doesn’t take great pride in their clients happiness, and isn’t willing to go to any lengths to achieve it is only doing a major disservice to yourself.
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