Tips for Selecting the Right Agent for You

Buying a home is an exciting, yet complicated process. You will have many decisions to make along the way, including your ideal neighborhoods, budget, and timing for your move. Whether you are buying your first home or purchasing a home in a new location, you should know: one of the most important decisions you’ll make is choosing your real estate agent.

In today’s article, we’re sharing our tips for selecting the right agent for you. While there are hundreds of qualified, personable, hard-working agents in Middle Tennessee, the following tips will help you narrow the field.

1.) Invest Your Time

Some buyers spend more time choosing a hotel for their vacation than they do researching their real estate agent. Yet for most homeowners, their real estate investment is the single largest purchase they’ve made—or may ever make. As this has the potential to be your most important financial transaction, you deserve an excellent real estate agent to represent your interests. Take your time; interview no fewer than three agents and give yourself permission to keep at it until you find the right one.

2.) Look for Agents with Experience

If you’re new to the process of buying a home, you will benefit from choosing an agent with a great deal of experience. However, it’s also important to ask whether the agent is experienced with those who are entering the market for the first time. Their response may help you gauge how well a prospective agent will be able to support you as a first-time buyer.

Find an agent who strikes you as a good listener. You want to work with someone who is compassionate and patient. You’re about to go through a stressful process; having an agent on your side who is calm and understanding will be invaluable.

3.) Get a Feel for Your Personality Compatibility

In addition to the essential traits of compassion and patience, it’s vital that you choose an agent whose personality meshes well with your own. It doesn’t matter if an agent is highly experienced and successful if their personality drives you bananas! People are complicated. It’s perfectly all right to decline a prospective agent if you feel you won’t work well together.

4.) Examine Their Marketing

Real estate agents usually have a robust marketing presence. Take a close look at the agent’s marketing. Are they more interested in showcasing themselves, or their properties? Do they share a steady stream of glowing reviews from happy clients or their gleaming new car? Hopefully you don’t encounter an agent who is solely focused on self-promotion, but steer clear if you do. You want an agent who will work with you and for you.

5.) Communication Skills

So much of what your agent will do for you revolves around communication. They’ll be speaking and writing on your behalf, so you want someone who can do both effectively, clearly, and politely. An agent who can maintain proactive, open lines of communication with you and all parties involved will be an enormous benefit to you at each stage of the journey.

6.) Ask Around—Strategically

Once you’ve decided on the neighborhoods you’re most interested in, don’t be shy about asking the residents if they’d be willing to recommend their real estate agent. Agents can receive no greater compliment than a referral from a happy homeowner, so take an enthusiastic recommendation to heart. That agent worked hard on behalf of their client, and they’ll do the same for you.

Additionally, an agent who has experience in the neighborhood or neighborhoods in which you want to buy will know the ins and outs of that area. Ask them any questions you have about the flow of traffic, noise levels, safety, and HOA rules and restrictions, and they will give you accurate answers.

7.) You Want Honesty

This may seem obvious, but the importance of honesty is impossible to overstate. You will need the unvarnished truth to help you mitigate your personal risk. Ask for hard data. Don’t be pulled in by vague optimism and hype; your investment needs to be protected by more than positivity. What do the numbers reflect about the long-term prospects of the neighborhoods you’re considering?

When you’re ready to reach out to a list of realtors, the following template can be helpful:

“Hello [AGENT NAME],

 My name is [YOUR NAME] and I am ready to purchase a new home in [DESIRED LOCATION]. I have been pre-qualified for a loan in the amount of [DOLLAR AMOUNT]. I am searching for a home that has [X] rooms and [X] baths.

I would like to arrange a consultation with you to go over some questions. The days and times that are best for me are [GIVE SEVERAL OPTIONS]. My contact information is [CELL AND EMAIL].

 Thank you,

[YOUR NAME]”

We wish you the very best as you search for the home of your dreams. We are confident that you will choose an excellent real estate agent who will work tirelessly to ensure your success! As much as possible, remind yourself that the stress of purchasing your home and moving will pass quickly. Soon, you’ll be enjoying your home, sweet home, and will for years to come!