3 Questions to Ask Any Agent Before You Hire Them

Before hiring a real estate agent, you need to do some vetting. Here are the questions that we recommend you ask.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

Buying or selling a home is a major project. Having a trustworthy agent to guide you through that project can be an invaluable asset. But how can you vet potential real estate agents to see who would be a good fit for you? Here are three important questions you should ask to get started: 1. "How many homes have you sold in the last 12 months?" Many real estate agents will tell you the number of years they have in the business. That's useful, but their recent activity can be more relevant than their total experience. Asking this question can tell you how well they know the market, as well as how successful you can expect them to be in your case. Bonus Question: You will probably want to ask whether the agent works primarily with buyers or sellers, because many agents specialize to some extent in one or the other.

You want to get a sense that this agent is somebody you can trust.

2. "Can I have the contact info for your last three deals?" Anybody can say they are a marvelously effective real estate agent. But talking to actual past clients can help you decide whether this is true or a bunch of hot air. When you do talk to a real estate agent's previous clients, you don't need to get too fancy to get useful information. Simply ask them to share their experience. 3. "What is your strategy for my specific needs?" As a buyer, you will want the agent to explain how they will search for your new home, how many homes you can expect to see, and how the agent handles multiple offers. As a seller, you will want to know how and where the agent will advertise your home. So what kinds of answers should you look for to these questions? Ideally, you will want to get a sense that this agent is somebody you can trust and that you feel comfortable working with. At the same time, you will want them to be experienced and diligent, as evidenced by recent successful deals and a concrete plan of action for your situation. If you ever want to know how I measure up on these questions, you can always give me a call. I'd love to hear what your specific situation is and whether I would be a good match to help you in the current real estate market.

How to Buy and Sell at the Same Time

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

Have you or anyone you know in Temple ever thought about what goes into buying a home and selling a home at the same time? It’s not as simple as it sounds.

It’s one of the most common questions we receive. Can you look for houses first before putting your current home on the market, so you can know where you’re moving before putting your house up for sale? Is this a good strategy?

If you’re going to look for a new house first, you will typically put in a contingency offer, meaning, the offer you put in is contingent on you being able to sell your home. As a seller and a listing agent, I can tell you that most sellers aren’t very excited about getting these contingent offers, strictly for the reason that the deal might not work out. But you can make the offer more attractive.

As a buyer, you likely need to be more aggressive with your offer if you have contingencies. You probably need to make a higher offer to make the seller willing to take that house off the market for you.

Once the buyer has found the house they love, the motivation to sell their house is extremely high. As time drags on and the possibility of losing their dream home becomes more real, typically the motivation increases. This usually entails accepting a lower offer or lowering the price. 

With a contingency offer in this case, the family might be paying more for the home they want (to make their offer more attractive) and accepting a lower offer on their old home (because of increased motivation to sell). That can cost you a lot of money! Too many times you also see buyers get their hearts broken even with an aggressive offer due to contingencies. 

So what’s the best way to do it? Let’s get it on the market and get a good price first, then we can negotiate enough time for us to find a house that works great for you.

If you have any questions on this topic, please reach out to me via phone or email. I’d be happy to help!