Interviewing A Buyer's Agent? Ask These Important Questions!
Posted on: 15 August 2019
In most areas of the United States, buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions of your life. Since there is so much money at stake, it's vital you make the best selection possible. To do so, you need to work with a skilled buyer's agent who has intimate knowledge of the local real estate market where you want to purchase a home.
When it comes time to start seriously home shopping, you need to interview a few buyer's agents to find the one you want to partner with. When doing so, make sure you ask each of these very important questions:
Are You a Real Estate Agent, Realtor, or Broker?
While the terms real estate agent, realtor, and broker are often used interchangeably, they actually denote three different types of professionals.
Real estate agents are often new to the industry and often have less experience than realtors or brokers.
Realtors have more practical experience with buying and selling homes than real estate agents and they are members in good standing of the National Association of Realtors. Membership in this organization means the realtors have agreed to be held to high standards of professionalism.
A bit above realtors on the professional ladder are brokers. Brokers are licensed to manage the transactions of real estate agents and realtors and tend to have many years of industry experience.
What is Your Current Percentage of Buyers vs. Sellers?
Since you want to purchase a home, it's important your real estate professional has experience as a buyer's agent. To determine if this is the case, simply ask the percentage of buyers vs. sellers they have recently worked with. If they appear to work primarily with sellers, then look for a different agent. If they work with primarily buyers, then they just might be the right agent for you.
What is the Most Challenging Negotiation You Have Had and What Was the Outcome?
Finally, when you make an offer on a property and need your real estate agent to negotiate the best price and terms with the seller's realtor, they need to be skilled at doing so. The negotiation process is one of the most important aspects of a real estate deal. If your agent can't negotiate well, then you may end up paying thousands of dollars more than necessary for your new home.
To get an idea of an agent's negotiating skills, ask them about their most challenging negotiation and how the outcome was for the client they were representing at the time. Realtors who are skilled negotiators will have an easy time answering this question, while those who haven't negotiated well will struggle.
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