How to Find the Best Real Estate Agent
One of the first steps in buying or selling a home is finding the best real estate agent that works for you and your family. Here at Homes.com, we prioritize connecting buyers, sellers, and agents in one marketplace to make the best experience possible. That is why we have created our “Agent Search” feature which allows you to either search for agents in your area or for an agent by their name. With our search tool, you can find trusted local agents that meet your specific requirements, such as language or specialty.
To find the best real estate agent for you, click on the “Find Agent” button in the top right corner. Then start by either searching for the city you are selling in or where you would like to buy a home. Once you hit the search button, a list of agents in that city will pop up.
Searching by Language
Now you can sort each agent by the language they speak. Picking a language allows you to select an agent fluent in your chosen language, creating the best communication between you and your agent.
Searching by Specialties
Next, you can sort the agents by their specialty. This feature is helpful because now you can specifically search for agents that can help you either sell or buy your home. If you’re looking to buy an investment property or are a first-time homebuyer, you can look for agents who specialize in those areas.
Filtering Through Agents
Finally, in the right-hand corner of your screen, you can filter between most active agents, most reviews, and most listings. Sorting by “most active” lets you look at the most active agents on Homes.com, letting you know which agents would respond to you quicker if you reached out to them. Sorting by “most reviews” allows you to look at the agents with the most reviews, giving you a broader scope of what previous clients have thought about their agents. If you choose to sort by “most listings,” you will see what agents have the most listings in your area on Homes.com.
If you already know of an agent you would like to work with or you have picked out an agent in your area, you can search for them by name and check out their reviews along with the locations they serve, specializations, and business hours. You can also check out where their office is located, along with clicking a Google icon to auto search for them on Google. Finally, on the agent’s page, you can fill out your information on a form to contact them.
Questions to Ask Before Hiring
Once you find a real estate agent, you should ask them essential questions before hiring them. Here’s a list of suggested questions you should ask your real estate agent.
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How long have you been an Agent?
Knowing how long your real estate agent has been practicing is essential to determine how much experience they have. By asking this question, you can decide if you would like your agent to have more or less experience.
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How many homes do you sell a year? How many homes have you sold in total? How many homes have you helped buyers buy?
The amount of time your home stays on the market is essential. Because if your home stays on the market for too long, then your home will go down in value. Therefore, you should find an agent that sells homes fast to get your home off the market. If you’re looking to buy a home, it’s good to know how many homes your agent has sold to understand how proactive they are when helping their clients find and buy their houses.
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Do you work full-time or part-time?
Most real estate agents work either full-time or part-time. If your real estate agent works part-time, they may not be able to meet with you as often as a full-time agent would be able to. Therefore you should decide if your agent needs to be full-time or if you are okay with them being part-time.
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How many buyer clients do you have right now? How many selling clients do you have right now?
Knowing the number of clients your agent has tells you how busy and trustworthy they are. If they have several clients, they may not be able to properly dedicate their time to you. But you do not want your agent to not have any clients because this could mean they’re not good at their job or are not trusted.
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Can I see your real estate license?
Asking for your agent’s license allows you to make sure your agent is allowed to practice, which reassures you that they are a qualified agent.
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Do you have any references I can call?
Even though you can check out the reviews of your real estate agent on Homes.com, calling references allows you to directly ask someone your agent used to work for if what they’re saying is trustworthy and ask them their professional opinion of this agent.
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Will I be working with you individually, or are you on a team with whom I will work?
More and more agents work within teams at their firms. If you choose your real estate agent and are handed off to a group of people, this could be overwhelming. So, before you hire your agent, it’s essential to ask if you will only be working with them or a whole team of people.
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How does your commission work?
Since you’re entering a financial transaction with this agent, knowing how they will be compensated is essential. Usually, as a buyer, you would not have to pay the agent any commission fees. As a seller, you would pay a commission to your broker, which would be split with the buyer’s agent.
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What is the best way to contact you?
Homes.com gives you your agent’s contact information, but your agent may prefer email, phone call, or text message so they can reply to you faster. Reaching your agent is essential, especially when trying to get your house off the market as quickly as possible.
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Can you explain the home buying process to me?
Whether you are a first-time home buyer or have not bought a home in a while, it’s good to have your agent explain the home-buying process to you so you know what to expect before selecting your agent and beginning the process.
Here at Homes.com, we hope whether you are buying or selling a home you can pick the best real estate agent for you, creating the best client-agent relationship for you and your family!
