When meeting with a realtor...

[Liz CA]

...what question do you ask when trying to decide if you want him/her represent you as a possible buyer?

It's been sooo long since I've done this last. We didn't even have internet back then. :) :)

[gardenmom5]

I've only been part of choosing a realtor twice - but it wasn't what they said, it was something in their demeanor.   both times - I was helping someone else.  the first,  my mom.  I tried hard to talk her out of that guy . . . I really did.  grrr.  I had even found one who seemed far more competent.  but no, she wanted to go with my brother's friend's supposed partner . . . . (he was lousy)

then dh and dd met with a realtor,  . . . I wasn't there or I would have vetoed it.   I did play a significant role in him being fired and replaced with a much more competent agent.

about the second one - he was a buyer's agent.  he kept showing carppy homes, (i was online looking at houses all the time, I knew what was out there.  houses I expected he'd would take us to see - he didn't.   only carppier ones.).   the thing I noticed- he didn't listen to my daughter (or me for that matter.)  when she told him what she wanted.  he took us to see one house he was hoping to also list - and then sell to her . . . . .he kept going on and on . . he was finally fired and replaced with an agent who was much more with it in finding houses, more professional with her behavior, more adept at writing an offer (especially in a multi-offer situation - which my daughter's house was).

her latest multi-offer win  (we're in a super hot market) - was the buyers promised to continue to feed the feral cats that the seller had been feeding.  (I hope they get fixed so there aren't any litters.)

[gardenmom5]

I guess what it was in that buyer's agent . . he lacked confidence, or self-esteem or something, and it came through in how he performed.  he expected a mediocre house - so that was all he looked at.

the dangers of low expectations.

my brother wanted me to look at houses with him.  I guess he wans't happy with what his agent was finding.  He asked me to look.  He bought a house I found - not his agent.

[JanetC]

Ask how many transactions they did last quarter representing the buyer. You want someone who is reasonably active. If multiple realtors are being compared, you want someone who is actively closing deals in your price range. Someone working in your price range is more likely to recognize a good or bad deal for you,  and different closing issues come up at different price ranges.

Describe what you're looking for and does this person think they could help with that. Ask their opinion of the state of the local real estate market. Do they sound knowledgeable and do they back up their opinions with data?

Then get references. Questions to ask references: 

- tell me the story of when and how you used this realtor. Open-ended questions like this can tell you a lot! If you ask nothing else, ask this!

- did the realtor hone in on your preferences or waste time wandering through houses that weren't going to be a fit?

- did they handle the price negotiation and closing well? 

[4Kiddos]

We are just starting the process of selling our third house in the last five years due to job relocation. We have learned a lot with the last three houses!

First of all, look on Zillow or Realtor.com and look at the listings the agent already has. See how many houses they have sold in the past year, what the text of the description is like, what the pictures are like, how the price compares to the Zillow Zestimate, etc.

- How many house have they sold in the last year? This will show you how experienced they are. Is this their second home they have sold? Are they a realtor were this is their hobby and sell only one or two homes a year? Or is this their business and sell 150 homes a year?

- What are the pictures like? Are they nice? Do they show off the house for the best? Their most inexpensive listings will show this the most so be sure to check those. You are basically selling your house with the pictures they will take so they had better be good. Our first realtor was a friend and we were selling a hard to sell house (built in 40s, lots of weird and outdated features but still clean and well-kept, lots of land, etc.). She said she was going to have nice pictures taken but then just took a few horrible ones of the outside with her cell phone. I ended up going and taking pictures myself (which I am not a professional) and we had so much more interest. It could be that there was actually pictures of the inside! :) Also, do you like their sign? One of the realtors for our home basically had a sign that promoted herself and not the fact that the house was for sale. It really bugged us as it kindof looked like the realtor lived there rather than the home being for sale.

- How are the prices compared to the Zillow Zestimate? This is just a rough guide to show you how well priced the homes are. If they are way above or way below the Zestimate, the house might not be priced right. The best is if you do some more research yourself. Look for yourself on Zillow and see what the prices are for homes that are similar to you- in size, land, improvements, etc. This will give you an idea what would be a good price and you can see what the realtor says. If it is way higher or lower, you might want to find someone else.

 

Other questions that might be helpful:

- Do they have a plan for updates? Our last realtor sent weekly updates on the activity and showings of our home. Our first realtor sent us nothing. It was really nice to have the weekly updates.

- What is their pricing? Do they have different levels of pricing or charge a flat percentage?

- Do they have any suggestions for work you need to do on your home?

- Do they recommend getting inspections done before your home is listed? Why or why not?

- What information will they have available for potential buyers? Flyers, Youtube videos, advertisements, signs, etc?

- What about staging? Is that included with their pricing? How do they feel about that and what should you do? (Speaking of which, staging the home yourself is such a good idea and sold all of our homes relatively quickly. Pinterest was great for ideas)

- Do they regularly represent both buyer and seller?

[Happy]

Get referrals from friends and family. 
Talk to the agent--on the phone and face to face. 

Ask if he or she is the one you will work with. An agent doing 150 deals a year probably will hand you off to a team member unless you are a high net worth individual. Ask to speak with the actual person you will work with. If you don't get a comfortable vibe, move on. 

I don't do 150 deals a year. I want to help each of my clients personally from beginning to closing (and after) so I LIMIT the number of deals I do in a year. I do not hand you off to a team member or coordinator. 

Yes the agent should pay attention to what you are asking to see-- one of the best compliments I ever got as a agent was when a young couple told me 'You knew what we wanted before we did...because you were watching what we reacted to.' 

Ask about the worst deal they were ever a part of and the best. What were the determining factors in each? What did they learn from the worst one. 

Ask how many of their deals are repeat clients--people don't go back to a crappy agent, but they happily go back to an agent they liked. 100% of my business is repeat and referral--and I love it that way. 
 

Best of luck!

[Carol in Cal.]

For a buying agent, you want really good negotiating skills and follow through.  Plus responsiveness and trustworthiness.  And you want someone who knows the quirks of the area, like if you're looking at vacation or farm properties, what are good and bad points locally for those?  Or if you like older home, which I do, is it someone good at older homes--inspections, contractors, common problems, etc.  Lastly, you want to be able to convey what you want.  You don't need someone telling you you should buy a new home if you want a Victorian.  Rather, you need someone who will help you find the very best Victorian for you, or other homes that have aspects that they have learned that you appreciate.  The only way I know of to find out all this stuff is to go into houses with several of these folks and figure it out gradually.

 

[Annie G]

I’m not the OP but I really appreciate all the advice and info. We looked at an open house and the realtor spent more time trying to get us as a client than she spent trying to sell the house. But worst of all we told her where we want to live and why and she kept pushing an area totally different. We kept telling her that’s not where we want to live. So annoying.

‘So thanks- as we get closer to needing a buyer’s agent (and a seller’s agent to sell our current place!) this info is very much appreciated. 

[Carol in Cal.]

3 hours ago, Annie G said:

 We looked at an open house and the realtor spent more time trying to get us as a client than she spent trying to sell the house. 

 

Actually, this is mostly what open houses are for.

The houses mostly actually sell based on the realtor tours, but the open houses are mostly so that the realtors can attract more clients.

That's why when we were selling a house that was rented out, we asked the realtors not to inconvenience our renters with very many open houses.  We knew it wasn't going to do the sale much good, and we didn't think it was fair to the renters.

[Annie G]

1 hour ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Actually, this is mostly what open houses are for.

The houses mostly actually sell based on the realtor tours, but the open houses are mostly so that the realtors can attract more clients.

That's why when we were selling a house that was rented out, we asked the realtors not to inconvenience our renters with very many open houses.  We knew it wasn't going to do the sale much good, and we didn't think it was fair to the renters.

In our area that is definitely not the case so it surprised me. In our town if you go to the open house you can expect the realtor to show you the features of the house and I’ve never walked away feeling that the agent was doing anything but trying to sell the house. I felt bad for the owners because she was trash talking the house to everyone who came in.  Good to know that it’s not like that in other areas so we won’t be surprised. Thanks for that.

I find the whole situation annoying if it’s like you said, because we arranged a private showing for a house and assumed it was the selling agent (or at least someone from that company) showing it to us. The guy had never seen it, lived 60 miles from the house, and couldn’t tell us anything about it. It was a pre-1900 home in a historic district and he had never shown a house like that. Not helpful.   

We bought this house 24 years ago so things have definitely changed and we’re trying to figure out the new procedures....from 900 miles away.  It’s so weird to have things done one way here but another way there!

[Liz CA]

Funny thing is how the real estate world has changed with the technology. Dh saw a place and was interested, clicked on the "contact" button and we found out quickly that someone contracted to return phone calls contacts you, knows nothing about the property but is only too happy to connect you with a realtor. When I asked how this whole thing works, the realtor today said we are probably now on 10 realtors' lists because of the online info. Silly us - we thought we get the listing agent to contact us to just give us some basic info not covered on the website. 

Thank you all for your valuable advice! We got the ball rolling but are determined to not get caught up in the jetstream of craziness. We are very comfortable where we are so there is no rush. If we do buy, it likely (hopefully) will be our last house.

[easypeasy]

I have nothing constructive to add - just wanted to note that we would love to move within the next few years - but this whole topic totally stresses me out. It's why we haven't moved in 20 years... :D

[Carol in Cal.]

Liz, one more thing--there are some markets that are relatively small and have a few realtors who basically 'own' the area.

Those are different from the ones I've been describing, and ti's important to know when you have one of these.  Because if you do, a nearby realtor who doesn't 'own' the market has a really low chance of being able to do a good job.  It simply won't be allowed to happen.  Whereas if you work with one of the 'owners', magically things will happen that make life easier, or just possible, or more well understood.  

You have to sort of infer this.  You can do that by following the area on realtor.com and seeing who the realtors are that actually are involved with transactions, and what the listing and sale prices turn out to be with various ones.  This is also an excellent way to learn a small market.  You can get to the point where you know exactly what something is worth, sometimes better than the realtors themselves.  I did that with our cabin.  There was one realtor who always listed things high, and his listings sat on the market for years.  I could figure out how much they were worth, and I refused to offer more than that.  We made an offer at close to that value on one place that was so much less than his asking price that he refused to let the sellers even counter.  2 years later the place finally sold--for less than what we had offered, in a stable to slightly rising market.  (And we had moved on to a much better place that was also a better value.)

Be especially careful to find out what 'owner' realtors have going on as side gigs.  Is one also a contractor, or married to one?  If so, a deal might be more likely to go through if a remodel is involved that that contractor will get paid for.  Is there a local person who is a BMOC, wealthier than most or one of the big local employers, who is after the same property?  Then you have to recognize that the local 'owner' realtor's longterm interest is going to be in making that person happy, to get repeat business, which may distort how you are treated.

If you have ethical issues with starting with one realtor and switching to another one midstream (which arguably you shouldn't, but which I kind of do), it's pretty crucial to get this figured out before you start working regularly with one.

[JustEm]

We are in the process of selling and buying houses. My brother, who is also going through the process, decided to try Redfin and the realtor that we've worked with from there has been fantastic. She has been incredibly helpful with trying to find us the type of house/land we're looking for, which isn't going to be easy. 

We've also met with my parents realtor, who is incredibly honest and will point out when someone's emotions about a house are clouding their judgement. She is also quite blunt about what needs to get done to sell our house at different price points. 

We've been to a few open houses and those realtors have been awful. Not informed at all about the house they're trying to sell. Not particularly informed on the area the house is in. I've felt bad for the sellers because their realtors seem really bad.

Our 2, one will sell our houses the other will help find us a house, seem quite confident and knowledgeable. The only reason we have 2 is because the multiple people involved in the buying/selling process have different reasons for loving each.

[Annie G]

2 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Liz, one more thing--there are some markets that are relatively small and have a few realtors who basically 'own' the area.

Those are different from the ones I've been describing, and ti's important to know when you have one of these.  Because if you do, a nearby realtor who doesn't 'own' the market has a really low chance of being able to do a good job.  It simply won't be allowed to happen.  Whereas if you work with one of the 'owners', magically things will happen that make life easier, or just possible, or more well understood.  

You have to sort of infer this.  You can do that by following the area on realtor.com and seeing who the realtors are that actually are involved with transactions, and what the listing and sale prices turn out to be with various ones.  This is also an excellent way to learn a small market.  You can get to the point where you know exactly what something is worth, sometimes better than the realtors themselves.  I did that with our cabin.  There was one realtor who always listed things high, and his listings sat on the market for years.  I could figure out how much they were worth, and I refused to offer more than that.  We made an offer at close to that value on one place that was so much less than his asking price that he refused to let the sellers even counter.  2 years later the place finally sold--for less than what we had offered, in a stable to slightly rising market.  (And we had moved on to a much better place that was also a better value.)

Be especially careful to find out what 'owner' realtors have going on as side gigs.  Is one also a contractor, or married to one?  If so, a deal might be more likely to go through if a remodel is involved that that contractor will get paid for.  Is there a local person who is a BMOC, wealthier than most or one of the big local employers, who is after the same property?  Then you have to recognize that the local 'owner' realtor's longterm interest is going to be in making that person happy, to get repeat business, which may distort how you are treated.

If you have ethical issues with starting with one realtor and switching to another one midstream (which arguably you shouldn't, but which I kind of do), it's pretty crucial to get this figured out before you start working regularly with one.

We live in a smallish town and I think there is one really hot realtor right now who seems to have all the houses that are selling. so are you saying we should go with her to sell the house? Exactly what do you mean about ‘it simply won’t be allowed to happen?”  We haven’t bought or sold in decades so we need all the help we can get. 

[Carol in Cal.]

34 minutes ago, Annie G said:

We live in a smallish town and I think there is one really hot realtor right now who seems to have all the houses that are selling. so are you saying we should go with her to sell the house? Exactly what do you mean about ‘it simply won’t be allowed to happen?”  We haven’t bought or sold in decades so we need all the help we can get. 

Not necessarily.

But it would be wise to evaluate her connections and stuff.

When we were shopping for the cabin, there were two realtors who had almost all the listings up there.  We had used another realtor, and after a while it became clear to me (gradually) that there was another agenda in play with our offers.  Stuff would happen.  We would offer on something, and the counteroffer would be ridiculous, and then the house would sit on the market for a long time before magically selling for what we offered but with the same realtor on both sides of the sale.  Or a place would sell and the realtor's partner would get a big renovation deal out of it.  

It took me a while to figure this out.  In the meantime our poor realtor was driving 45 minutes up the hill whenever we looked at anything, and writing and presenting really good offers, and being pretty much shut out.  We were determined to stick with her because she had done so much work for us already, but I could see that if I was working with one of the two locals things would be going much more smoothly.  I wish that I had figured that out in advance.  (It all worked out just fine in the end, though.)

So I'm not saying to go with the hot one.  In some places the hot ones are the most sloppy or they undervalue places to make deals go through faster.  I'm just saying, watch for a bit and see what the real situation is, and then you can make a good decision.