A Good Real Estate Agent is Critical
Posted by Super Admin on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 12:58pm.
What’s for sale? How much is my home worth? How’s the market? How do I choose a real estate agent? Sound familiar? All good questions. Whether you are looking for homes in Fairfax, Arlington, Reston, Centreville, Chantilly, Ashburn, Vienna, or Prince William, these are questions that are asked thousands of times day on search engines. This article is about trying to help you understand that the easiest way to get consistent answers to these questions is to address that last question. If you succeed in finding an experienced, professional agent, you have a partner for life. Unfortunately my industry is filled with many used car salesman and those who simply are inexperienced, leaving a general lack of trust towards those in my profession. But for those buying homes there’s no reason to have to work with someone that isn’t excellent. Conversely, buyers should never purchase a home without an agent, even for those who have bought many homes. Here’s what to look for: Get past a good personality. Yes, it’s crucial you like your agents demeanor, humor, and personality. Those are given necessities. You need someone who knows the technicals of the current market. Do they know the trends of seller paid concessions within the area you’re buying or selling. How about the pricing trends?...or the Days on the Market trends. How well do they know the lending trends. For example, right now the national data for sales of new homes and existing homes fell 11.2% and 7.2% in the first month of the year, but Fairfax homes and Arlington homes and everywhere else in the area wasn’t hit anything like the rest of the county. Our inventory is low, and we remain in a seller’s market. Second, let me simply list a number of issues your agent addresses in representing your interests. On average there are four contingencies, or ‘outs’, to a contract that enable a buyer to void and get their earnest money deposit back. Different scenarios dictate the difference between voiding a contract and being in default. For Fairfax homes, how much of a deposit should a buyer put down? How much should a seller demand? How do you look for red-flags in a neighborhood for resale purposes? What exactly is title insurance and should I get it? What if you’re renting and want to buy a home but you’re stuck in a lease? What items on a home inspection are worth asking a seller to repair? The list is truly long. I will go into more examples in future articles, but if you take the time to interview agents, you’ll find the good ones work by referral only. When past clients that have bought Fairfax homes or sold Fairfax homes recommend me, my new client already trusts my guidance.
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