5 questions to ask your real estate agent

questions to ask your real estate agent

Buying or selling a home is a huge project. So it only makes sense to hire an expert to help you with this time-consuming task. Your real estate agent will put your home on the market and show it to prospective buyers. They will help you with the negotiations. If you’re moving to Charlotte NC, you should find an agent who is familiar with the locations you like. They can warn you about any drawbacks that the properties might have. But be warned, not every agent is the same. You could come across some who’ll want to take advantage of your inexperience. That might cost you more than you are willing to bargain for. Use these 5 questions to ask your real estate agent in order to find the right person.

In this article, you’ll find several essential questions to ask your real estate agent and find your perfect future home:

1. Can I have your references?

A real estate agent will certainly emphasize all of their positives like anyone would during a job interview. They will provide you with their best sales records, qualifications, experiences, just like when you’re hiring moving services, North Carolina. However, one of the crucial questions to ask your real estate agent, whether you’re buying or selling your home, is ask for references. Then check them, of course!

Questions to ask your real estate agent
Your real estate agent should have excellent references and be extremely familiar with your neighborhood.

Inquire previous clients about their experiences with the agent. Were they satisfied with their work? Were they easy to get in contact with? Did they keep them in the loop at all times? Would they recommend them?

  • In the real estate industry, personal recommendations are worth gold. That’s why a positive review can really give you an idea of whether the agent will be worth your time.
  • In addition to information about themselves, the real estate agent needs to be able to give you precise information about your preferred neighborhoods.
  • Another crucial question to ask your real estate agent we’ll show how prepared they are to fill you in on the current market.

2. Can you give me a CMA for the area?

Any good real estate agent needs to be able to give you a comparative market analysis (CMA). That is a listing of homes that are currently on the market in the area. The CMA gives you comparative details for your home and homes in the same category on the market. It will, of course, include information like price, square footage and number of bedrooms. Without even using our 5 questions to ask your real estate agent, an experienced real estate agent should make CMA a priority during this process. It will give you a lot of important details about your market, like is the area growing or declining?

When it comes to recognizing trends in the market, real estate agents are the ones to know. They see trends both in terms of growth and decline. You never know which areas can turn from a swamp into a busy residential area in just a few years. But your agents can sense the trends and the changes. You don’t want to invest in a highly desired neighborhood that will go into foreclosure in a couple of months. That is why this is one of the essential questions to ask your real estate agent.

Real estate agent by the sea
Asking the right questions will help you gain knowledge of the agent’s capabilities and methods.

3. Questions to ask your real estate agent: How will you market my home?

Ask these essential questions to ask your real estate agent in order to know all their plans for advertising your home. What are they doing, from signs, to open houses, to Internet listings? One of the biggest advantages of hiring a real estate agent is having access to additional resources for advertising your home. An experienced agent will share your house on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) right after talking to you. The MLS is a database system that will give your house amazing exposure on the market. Also, in addition to this conversation, one more of the important questions to ask your real estate agent is whether they have plans to hold open houses. How soon and how many?

4. Questions to ask your real estate agent: the realtor fees

Most agents don’t charge a flat-rate price. They generally take a percentage of the home’s final sale price. The commission is usually around 6 percent of the final price. This fee can be a huge sum, though.

  • So, if you’re selling, it is a smart move to ask if the fees are negotiable. Whether you will be able to negotiate on agent’s commission actually depends largely on the market. But it never hurts to ask.
  • You can also get a discount if you use the same agent for both buying a new home and selling your old one. Besides with commission, it’s also important to discuss the agency’s cancellation policy. These crucial questions to ask your real estate agent will help you get the best quality service.
  • A great way to get a clear idea of the agent’s professionalism and methods is to ask how they have handled cancellation fees and situations in the past.

5. Questions to ask your real estate agent: What are the shortcomings of my home?

Although it seems very counterintuitive, you’ll be able to see if the agent is honest and isn’t just trying to get you to sign a contract by any means necessary. A real estate agent who can evaluate the flaws of your home with legitimate arguments has an experienced, skilled eye. On the other hand, if they don’t honestly tell you the shortcomings that are already clear to you, it can show you that they are not fully dedicated to selling your home.

House and pink skies
Since your home is one of the biggest investments you’ll ever have to make, you should definitely be more than a little choosy about whom you hire to help you sell, buy, or relocate it.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, regardless of what the 5 questions to ask your real estate agent tell you about your realtor, put this information to good use in the selling process. Knowing your home’s disadvantages can only buy you some time to fix them. You can open your eyes to a more realistic image of the real estate market. Then all that will be left to do is hire Moving Kings NC to relocate you to your new dream home! We’ll do the packing, loading and then unpacking at your next address. Why not delegate your obligations and move like a king when you have us on your side?

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