When a person is transferred through their company, they get stuck with a Realtor from a Real Estate Company with whom the company has a master vendor agreement. It does not matter whether the agent is good, mediocre or poor. It does not matter whether they are interested in your particular case or not. They were allotted to your family. Since the commision in the purchase of a home is paid for by the seller, each buyer has a right to work with a realtor of his choice. It is borne neither by the Real Estate Company in question nor by the company that is transferring the party. You should get the best: i.e., someone who responded to your inquiries promptly, showed interest in your situation, understood your concerns and came back with answers promptly.
Real Estate is a service industry. So, other than pride in service, knowledge of the subject, and willingness to help, a real estate agent provides little else.
| How do you choose a Realtor you have never met? There are several criteria that you can use: | |
| How knowledgeable are they about the city? | |
| Can they help you with information on traffic, schools, and local facilities? | |
| Are they conversant with taxes in the surrounding communities? | |
| Do they have a website? | |
| Does the website give you the information that you would typically be looking for? | |
| Does the website have personality and did you feel comfortable using it? | |
| Were they addressing your needs and desires or busy giving you an impression of how successful and busy they were? | |
| Do they enjoy serving the clients needs? This is a service industry. | |
| Did the Realtor take the time and trouble to hand you their information/brochure that would make the process of home buying somewhat easier for you? | |
| Almost every real estate agent has a website so which one responded to your inquiry first? | |
Once you choose your Realtor, work with him/her. While it may take a little time to find just what you are looking for, each time you meet you will become more familiar with each other and a good Realtor will come closer to understanding what really matters to you most. Identify in order of priority what all your requirements are and eventually you will feel like good friends. And you will find that you will be visiting only homes that will appeal to you.
Once you have found the property and put an offer on it, your Realtor should take the process over and keep you posted and up-to-date with the process, as well as handle any situation that may come up. She/he is a project manager in a manner of speaking. The real estate agent is the liaison between the buyer/seller/mortgage and title companies.