Please give me your tips for evaluating realtor long distance!

[Pen]

I the guardian ad Litem to a minor and need to work with someone long distance.  

I’ll start talking to people I have found online or via recommendations tomorrow.  I’d appreciate tips on what to ask and what to watch for (or watch out for) both positive and negative. 

One recommended agent works for Coldwell Banker.  I had a past bad experience with a Coldwell Banker agent, and feel my muscles tense when I see that.  I am trying to remind myself that it is an enormous company with huge numbers of brokers and agents and to try to let go of that visceral reaction. 

Thanks!!!

[Arctic Bunny]

Having a plan. Our realtor was familiar with working LD. He knew we would have a 5 days to view, offer, inspect, sign. Once we knew when that week was, he set the whole week aside.

Before we knew when our trip would be, he went through what our musts and wishes were, as well as our budget. Then he opened a portal for us, and put in a whole range of properties. Then we went through each one and indicated yes, maybe, no. He then took what he learned to advise us of properties as they came on the market.

Once we knew when we were coming, he booked all the showing for the Monday, reserved Tuesday for if we needed a second look, booked the inspector for Wednesday.

Our first choice fell through at inspection. He had another offer for our second choice lined up ASAP. They had already accepted another. 

He then lined up more showings, another offer and another inspection, with the final paperwork, all done by Friday night.

Amazing.

[Carol in Cal.]

Get recommendations from locals.  Ask here!  Maybe you will find someone!

Look at their listings.  Are they showing their houses well if you are selling?  

Study the market locally yourself, before talking with anyone.  You might find that your focus helps you get more comfortable with the area and prices and values and issues so that you can work well with your team.  You can glean a lot from online information—listings, sales prices, etc.  See what they feature.  For instance, in Silicon Valley fruit trees are not super common so they tend to be mentioned in listings.  In Modesto they are so common that they are unremarked.  Study the news articles about the area.  Is it a fire hazard region?  Are there a lot of floods or tornadoes?  What about extreme temperatures or bugginess?  What about radon?

If you’re buying, it’s harder.  What I look for is someone who is likeable, who projects calm and professionalism even on their personal facebook page, who is a specialist in that area, but not necessarily the biggest seller (who might not have time for me.)  Then I try to hang out with them enough to get an idea of what kind of negotiator they would be, and how they would position a client to beat out other offers.  I find that that is harder to describe—the ones I have liked in that regard I have gotten to know over a period of time.

Regarding trying to get a firm schedule, some realtors commit to schedules and kind of forget that they did, while others do so and you can take it to the bank.  I don’t know how you can tell about that in advance.

 

[Pen]

34 minutes ago, arctic_bunny said:

Having a plan. Our realtor was familiar with working LD. He knew we would have a 5 days to view, offer, inspect, sign. Once we knew when that week was, he set the whole week aside.

Before we knew when our trip would be, he went through what our musts and wishes were, as well as our budget. Then he opened a portal for us, and put in a whole range of properties. Then we went through each one and indicated yes, maybe, no. He then took what he learned to advise us of properties as they came on the market.

Once we knew when we were coming, he booked all the showing for the Monday, reserved Tuesday for if we needed a second look, booked the inspector for Wednesday.

Our first choice fell through at inspection. He had another offer for our second choice lined up ASAP. They had already accepted another. 

He then lined up more showings, another offer and another inspection, with the final paperwork, all done by Friday night.

Amazing.

 

That does sound amazing!!!

[Pen]

1 minute ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Get recommendations from locals.  Ask here!  Maybe you will find someone!

Look at their listings.  Are they showing their houses well if you are selling?  

Study the market locally yourself, before talking with anyone.  You might find that your focus helps you get more comfortable with the area and prices and values and issues so that you can work well with your team.  You can glean a lot from online information—listings, sales prices, etc.  See what they feature.  For instance, in Silicon Valley fruit trees are not super common so they tend to be mentioned in listings.  In Modesto they are so common that they are unremarked.  Study the news articles about the area.  Is it a fire hazard region?  Are there a lot of floods or tornadoes?  What about extreme temperatures or bugginess?  What about radon?

If you’re buying, it’s harder.  What I look for is someone who is likeable, who projects calm and professionalism even on their personal facebook page, who is a specialist in that area, but not necessarily the biggest seller (who might not have time for me.)  Then I try to hang out with them enough to get an idea of what kind of negotiator they would be, and how they would position a client to beat out other offers.  I find that that is harder to describe—the ones I have liked in that regard I have gotten to know over a period of time.

Regarding trying to get a firm schedule, some realtors commit to schedules and kind of forget that they did, while others do so and you can take it to the bank.  I don’t know how you can tell about that in advance.

 

 

We are the sellers.

In case of a possible WTM recommendation,  the property is in Tuolumne County, California.  

Those are great ideas!  I’m about to go check what I can of listings for the first recommended agent I got! 

 

 

[Carol in Cal.]

Just now, Pen said:

 

We are the sellers.

In case of a possible WTM recommendation,  the property is in Tuolumne County, California.  

Those are great ideas!  I’m about to go check what I can of listings for the first recommended agent I got! 

 

 

Oh wow.  I happen to have a second home there.

I have some good names for the 108 corridor up the mountain, if that’s your area.  If not, I can ask around for you if you tell me where it is.

[Slache]

Google reviews of the office.

[Arctic Bunny]

1 minute ago, Pen said:

 

We are the sellers.

In case of a possible WTM recommendation,  the property is in Tuolumne County, California.  

Those are great ideas!  I’m about to go check what I can of listings for the first recommended agent I got! 

 

 

I’m sorry! I didn’t catch that you were selling!

I have not had that experience. However, I hesitantly recommended our realtor to a friend who was selling. Her house had been on the market for over a year, with one lowball offer. The reason I hesitated was because our realtor had mentioned while showing us houses that his wife primarily did the selling side. We were viewing a house that was filthy on the outside and smelled like cat pee on the inside. He said that his wife had the hard part of the job: telling sellers the truth. So I told my friend that I would highly recommend him and his wife, but that it might be hard to hear their advice. She considered that for a couple of weeks, then called. She did, in fact, not like hearing their suggestions. But she did it. And then they were setting up showings. And then in a little over a month it was sold.

So I guess I would look for someone who has suggestions for getting the property ready to sell. Somebody who will contact you, and that you don’t have to chase down. A realtor with a variety of price points. Because they seem to use those to steer you to the house that I swear they’ve already decided you’re going to buy.

Best of luck to you!

[beaners]

I would make sure your recommendation is from someone else who sold. We signed with a realtor after great references from our neighbor who had used her to buy houses. She stunk at selling, and half the things she did made it harder for us to sell.

Definitely check out other listings by the same realtor and see how they are presenting the properties. 

Edited January 26, 2020 by beaners

[Pen]

56 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Oh wow.  I happen to have a second home there.

I have some good names for the 108 corridor up the mountain, if that’s your area.  If not, I can ask around for you if you tell me where it is.

 

Tried to pm you, but I think your pm is full.

I’m in Oregon and not familiar with that area of CA — don’t know where 108 corridor up the mountain is.  

the house that I am looking for realtor for is in Sonora. 

[Carol in Cal.]

Ah, OK, I know Sonora but not Sonora realtors.

Sonora is on 108 in the foothills.  We are up the road from there about 30 miles, in the mountains to the East.  The realtors I know well are mostly up there.  

Let me nose around a bit.  I have a couple of people I can ask.  I’ll ask why they like their person as well.

[prairiewindmomma]

I asked for a market analysis, a marketing plan, and how we would keep in contact (text preferred). I wanted access to good photos for the listing (lighting package, etc) as well as the website data (number of hits on page, how long they were looking at the listing, etc.). I wanted feedback on showings and I was clear that if she had someone interested in the property as a client that the negotiations needed to be handled through another agent. She couldn’t be agent for both of us.

I interviewed three agents (different agencies) and heard their thoughts on pricing, time on the market estimates, and strengths/weaknesses of the property.

[Carol in Cal.]

I sent you a PM with local recommendations and details.  Good luck!  Also, if you want me to drive by the place when I am in town and just make sure it’s not flooded or whatever, pm me the address.  I will be up that way next month for sure.

[G5052]

Are you working with an attorney or bank there?

I had to sell multiple properties long-distance in an estate situation, and we had outstanding realtors in each transaction that were largely recommended by the main attorney and bank officer. One in particular really stood out for her attention to detail on a property that I thought was going to be really hard to sell even though the location was outstanding. She was amazing!

[Pen]

3 hours ago, G5052 said:

Are you working with an attorney or bank there?

I had to sell multiple properties long-distance in an estate situation, and we had outstanding realtors in each transaction that were largely recommended by the main attorney and bank officer. One in particular really stood out for her attention to detail on a property that I thought was going to be really hard to sell even though the location was outstanding. She was amazing!

 

No bank.  Attorney part is done, but I have asked him if he has any realtors he recommends.  Have not heard back from him yet. 

I hope I too find someone outstanding for the long distance situation.  

[G5052]

23 hours ago, Pen said:

 

No bank.  Attorney part is done, but I have asked him if he has any realtors he recommends.  Have not heard back from him yet. 

I hope I too find someone outstanding for the long distance situation.  

 

In the area where we sold the properties, many real estate transactions were done for people long-distance, so that was not a big deal at all. Sometimes they emailed me documents, and then I signed and scanned them back and popped the original into the mail. Sometimes they sent the documents to a signing agent who came to my house. And one time I signed live with a webcam and then sent the documents via Fedex.

My attorney told me that he never did meet about a 1/3 of his past clients face-to-face. We did plan a trip there eventually, and I had lunch with him and the bank officer.