Choosing The Right Real Estate Agent

So, you’ve decided to move house…

Perhaps you want a second bedroom, as you are longing to start a family of your own.

Or maybe you need more outdoor space, as you want to build a life size replica of the Apollo 11 spacecraft in your back yard (I’ve heard stranger reasons for moving, believe it or not!).

Either way, that is awesome. I want to help you turn your real estate dreams into reality.

Instructing a real estate agent

One of the first steps in your home moving journey will be to instruct a real estate agent.

Certain types of agent are very hard to find.

Secret agents working for Britain’s MI6 are incredibly difficult to find and contact (thankfully for the sake of our national security!). The same applies to special agents working undercover on behalf of America's FBI.

But luckily for you, real estate agents are incredibly easy to find and contact. They are everywhere!

Real estate agents are cold calling you when you are trying to watch the season finale of dancing with the stars. You are sitting in traffic and they are looking into your car straight at you, from a poster plastered over the rear of a bus. In fact, try as you might, it sometimes seems like you can’t avoid them!

I would advise researching what local real estate agents operate in your area, and asking friends and family for recommendations.

From your research and recommendations, choose at least three suitably qualified professionals to visit your home to provide a free market appraisal.

When evaluating which one to instruct, keep the below tips in mind.

Tip #1 — Low commission fee agents can be a false economy

Some homeowners will decide to instruct whichever real estate agent offers them the lowest commission fee.

These homeowners misguidedly believe that they are being financial savvy, by negotiating hard and instructing whichever agent they are able to beat down to the lowest commission fee.

This can be a huge false economy.

One of the most important qualities you should look for in a real estate agent is the ability to negotiate well.

How a real estate agent interacts with you, is a good indication of how they will interact in negotiations with potential buyers of your property!

If an agent folds under pressure and isn’t even able to negotiate a good commission fee for themselves, why do you think they will be able to negotiate a good sale price for your home?

Instructing a real estate agent who is poor at negotiating can potentially save you thousands in commission fees. But it could also potentially cost you tens, or even hundreds, of thousands in achieved sale price.

Tip #2 — Choose an agent who tailors their services to your needs

Home owners are like snowflakes, each one is unique.

Each and every one will possess their very own individual set of needs and priorities.

Some homeowners will be inexperienced with regards to selling property, and will appreciate a lot of hand holding throughout the process. These type of clients may appreciate daily phone calls to touch base, regardless of if there have been any developments.

Other homeowners will be highly experienced with regards to selling property. They may also be very busy at work, and would consider receiving daily telephone calls just to touch base to be an inconvenience. They might prefer to only be contacted if and when you have significant updates to report. Perhaps it would be more convenient for them to be contacted via email or text, rather than receiving telephone calls.

The computations of different needs and priorities are almost endless.

You will want to choose an agent who engages with you in a meaningful way. Find one that truly listens to you, and attempts to understand your unique needs and priorities in the home moving process. A good agent will always explain to you how they can tailor and customize their services, in order to suit you. The customer should always be put first!

Sadly, there are some real estate agents that aren’t too concerned with your needs and priorities, all they care about is their commission cheque.

Would you accept a suit or dress from a tailor, who didn’t take your body measurements, or even ask you for your design preferences?

No, of course you wouldn’t. If you wouldn’t accept a cookie cutter ‘off the rack’ service for an item of clothing, why would you accept it from a salesperson responsible for marketing what is likely to be put your most valuable financial asset?

Tip #3 — In sales, personalities are key

There is a misconception among some quarters of the general public, that overly pushy and aggressive people make great sales people. That they have the ‘killer instinct’ to force a deal through.

This could not be further from the truth!

I would never allow a overly pushy or aggressive real estate agent to join my team. Firstly, because on a personal level, I could not like anyone that possessed those attributes. Secondly, because people with such characteristics make terrible salespeople.

When you are assessing potential agents, you should look for characteristics such as empathy, emotional intelligence and kindness.

Buyers are far more likely to offer on a house being shown by an agent that they like and trust, rather than on one being shown by a aggressive and pushy agent, that they dislike and distrust.

I have a great example of this. A friend of my time told me how a few years ago, he had viewed a selection of very expensive penthouse apartments in London (we’re talking about many, many millions of pounds each).

Out of all the apartments he viewed, he had two clear favorites. There was little to choose between them.

However, he actually bought the one he liked slightly less. The rationale behind his decision, was that the agent selling this property seemed trustworthy and pleasant to deal with, whilst the agent selling his number one choice was aggressive and generally intimidating. He simply didn’t want the hassle of having to deal with the aggressive agent!

Credit Jamie Hendy