How do you
choose the right real estate professional? Is it those who’s picture and
sign you see everywhere? Is it that agent who’s photogenic
or the one who looks like honest Abe or your grandmother? Or is it
the agent who promotes himself or herself as a TOP PRODUCER? Is it
that agent who has all those designations behind their name, CRS,
CRS, NAR, MLS®, Realtor®, ect.? Is it the one with the best website
which can link you to anywhere and anyone? Or perhaps is it that
small town agent who promotes him or her as the one expert who knows
your area the best? The answer: ALL THE ABOVE. It all begins with
you. As a Buyer or Seller, you must evaluate YOUR needs. A good start
is our website, MyPreferredAgent.com.
At MyPreferredAgent.com you can direct your search
to a certain city or town and begin profiling real estate professionals
available in
your area. You can review their areas of expertise and what they have
to offer. As in every profession, the degree of experience level varies.
Is an experience agent who’s been in the business 50+ years better
than the young professional who just received his or her license? It
all depends on you. Only you can answer that question. And a good way
to start is to profile all the agents in your area and begin communicating
with them. MyPreferredAgent.com gives you choices to make an intelligent
decision.
Once you have narrowed your search to a few selected agents in your
area, what do you look for next? We have found that a good agent will
respond by asking you questions. The ability to communicate with each
other and to relate to your agent is very important. Most people do
not want their agent to be their best friend, but do want to be able
to trust them and be able to communicate with them easily without any
embarrassment or apprehension.
If you are a buyer, one of the first things you should
do is to get yourself prequalified for a loan. (skip this suggestion
if you are
able to make an all cash offer!). You may get a jump-start by clicking
one of our affiliate loan companies below. A good agent should be able
to recommend a quality lender in your area. By getting prequalified,
you & your agent will know how much you can afford and you can
determine how much you wish to afford. With this dollar amount in mind,
your agent can then begin searching for available property that fits
your criteria, i.e. price, location, size, school districts, etc.
If you are considering selling, you need an agent who knows
your area well. A good agent knows what has sold recently in your area
and for
how much. A local agent may even have clientele looking for a property
just like yours. In essence, your agent should be able to provide you
with a list of comparable properties that have sold recently to arrive
at an estimated market value of your property. This is very similar
to what a real estate appraiser would do, but not as formal. An agent
should do this free of charge. Please note, do not just base your evaluation
of an agent upon the value they place on your property. Ask for supporting
documentation of how they came up with that value. Some agents may
quote high just to get the listing; but a seller must remember that
a buyer’s lender will require the property be appraised by a
licensed appraiser. If the appraiser arrives at a lower value than
the offered price, then that is all the lender will loan on the property.
Verification of similar properties values in the area is the key to
a property being priced right and having a successful sale!
Those real estate professionals who have promoted
themselves on our website are proactive and have a strong desire
to succeed. We believe
that success breed’s success. Once you contact an agent, please
remember to tell them you saw them first on MyPreferredAgent.com.
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