List of Licensed Real Estate Developers

When you begin your house hunting adventure, knowing you’ve got a good real estate agent on your team is paramount! Below are a few tips to help you to determine if the agent you’ve chosen is going to help or hinder your search.

• Experience Counts! If you are working with a real estate agent who is relatively new to the profession, you want to be sure he or she has a competent team of professionals working with them. It’s not necessary for your agent to know everything, as long as they have access to somebody who does! You want to know your agent will have access to a team who can assist them if they need it. In a commission driven industry, it’s not uncommon to find office in-fighting over and above the norm. A real estate brokerage who has been in the business and can produce a track record of agent longevity as well as happy clients is a must.
• Location counts! Area knowledge is a must for a real estate agent. If you have built a relationship with an agent and are comfortable working with them, but are moving to an area he or she may not be familiar with, your agent may be more comfortable referring you to another sales person with a better understanding of your new community. Don’t be afraid to ask to be referred either, as your own agent will still receive a referral fee for getting you in touch with a brokerage.
• Listen to your agent! Many buyers can get caught up in the process, and can easily overlook the obvious. If your agent warns of certain adverse influences that may affect your resale value, it may not seem important when you envision living the rest of your life in the home…but quite often life will throw us curve balls when we least expect it. You want to purchase your home with resale in mind, as no matter your plan, real estate for many is one of their biggest and most rewarding investments when purchased properly. Listening and taking advice seriously works both ways. You want to be sure you are working with an agent who is going to listen to your wants and needs and follow through on your requests, treating you as seriously as you are treating them.

Whether buying or selling, the relationship you build with your real estate agent may well prove to be one of the most profitable partnerships you encounter. A mutual respect and appreciation of the relationship is a must. It is a relationship that can stay with you for a lifetime and pay you handsomely many times over.

As the news broadcasts continue to tout doom and gloom about our economies based on historical information, remember that your real estate agent seen it coming, and they will be one of the first to recognize the light at the end of the tunnel for what it is.