Ask These Five Questions - How to Hire a Buyer's Agent

"Picking the right agent can be confusing and tiring and that's quite understandable. You need to find a person that you trust most when making one of the biggest financial decisions in your life."   Today we'll break down what I believe is a good process for vetting out agents and making sure you pick the best one to represent you.  Explore Around As an agent myself, about 85% of my business comes from referrals. So the first thing I would recommend you do is talk to a few friends that recently went through the buying process and see what they thought of their agent. Do your friends speak highly of their experience? Do your friends recommend you talk to them? If so, you should get their information and connect with them. You can find out more about why that experience was so awesome. If your friends are less enthusiastic or not recommending them, you should probably stay away. Once you have a few people that seem like good options, first hop on the phone and ask a few questions. See if you have a positive vibe with them. Schedule a Meeting Then I would suggest you set up a meeting in their office. Some people meet up in coffee shops but I don't recommend that. Well, I love coffee shops, but it's best to meet in an agent's office. Meet in a private place where you can have a full discussion and be open and honest about everything that's going on in your life and the reasons driving your decision. Once you're at their office, go ahead and let the agent control the conversation while watching for two things: Firstly, are they more focused on you or themselves? The goal of a consultation or initial conversation is to see what you're looking for. If the focus is all on what they've done and how great they are, that's not helping anybody move forward. Having a conversation about what you're looking for and your expectations should be on the forefront. If that's what happens, then you're heading in the right direction. Secondly, are they talking you through the buying process? Whether you are new to it or you've been through it once before, it's good getting a brush up on what to expect. Remember every market is a little bit different, so there might be new things to learn while you're going into the process.   Question Time They've talked about what you can expect and they've asked questions about what you're looking for. Now is the time you should bring your questions to the table. Don't know what to ask? There are five main questions that I recommend people ask their agent before they get involved in anything serious. Experience Comes First When it comes to experience, it's not about the number of years they've been looking at real estate websites. I'm talking about how much business they have done over the past couple of years and how that’s going to help you. An agent that's been through a number of transactions would have encountered and overcome challenges. Those experiences are going to make sure that your experience is as good as possible. 2. Getting Their Opinion So you've told them what you’re looking for and discussed a budget. Now see what neighborhoods they recommend for you and have them dive into the reasons why. Are there any ongoing developments in the neighborhood? Is there a specific reason that the neighborhood is suitable for you?     This will do two things -- It will open your eyes to other neighborhoods and it will show you whether the agent actually knows about the neighborhoods you might/might not be interested in. 3. Getting More References The third thing I would do is ask for references. Even if you came from a referral, asking for a few more references is certainly a good idea. I suggest getting further insight into what working with this agent looks like to see if it would be a good fit.  4. Communication Communication is a key piece of the process. What's the preferred method of communication? Is it going to be text, email, or phone calls? How often do you think that you're going to be talking to one another? Are you going to hear from them once a week, once a month, or three times a day? It's good to know this going into it, so you can have appropriate expectations and know that everybody is on track and talking the right amount in order to move this process forward. 5. Fee Structures What fees can you expect? Everyone has different structures so make sure you ask the question. This will avoid any surprises later on. So there you have it. Whether you hire me or someone else, I hope all of this was helpful for you in differentiating agents and finding the one who represents you well.   More Questions? If you have any questions, please reach out! I’m always happy to help.  Cheers, John Coleman john@jasonmartingroup.com 202-427-9689

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