Meeting with realtors is an important first step. You should meet with someone before you decide to buy or sell and especially before you start listing your property or house hunting. The reality is that time and time again people try to skip steps and get going with their own strategies before bringing in professional assistance. That’s not the best way to go about real estate, especially in this type of market.
You need a team to assist you and the first and most important member of that team is your realtor. They can get you started in the right direction or tell you what elements you are missing and need to focus on before you begin. Finance is a great example for buyers. Do you qualify to buy a home, especially the home you want? A realtor can answer that question in 10 minutes and show you how to improve your situation.
Interview Questions For Your Realtor
Whether you want to buy or sell a property, working with a realtor can help you in a number of ways from managing the other party, making sure everything is good on a legal front, looking for extra areas like permits and warranties, getting information you cannot acquire or even keeping the process running smoothly. There will be headaches and your realtor is trained at minimizing them and making things far easier. Here’s what you need to ask:
- Thoughts on the property? If you are selling, allow them to review the property and give you their opinion on what you should do, what options you have, a fair asking price and whether or not they think you can sell quickly.
- What experience do you have? You want to learn about where they have sold and what they have sold or purchased with their clients. Do they mainly handle expensive properties or commercial properties? Are they more experienced with condos instead of single family units? These are fair and smart questions to ask because you are paying not only for a service, but the experience they have as well.
- What experience do you have in this area? If you are buying in a specific area, you want to work with someone who knows that area and can offer you recommendations on where to look and where you may want to live. The same goes with if you are selling in an area. Local realtors know what your competition looks like and that’s huge for setting a value.
- Opinion on the current local market? Where is the market right now and how does that impact you and your goals? That’s a great question to ask because it also tells you who is knowledgeable and who is just trying to get another client. Some realtors may recommend you wait for whatever reason and that’s the guidance you may not expect, but are looking for from someone who is really in the market.
- Am I smart to sell or buy now? Timing is everything in the market and with interest rates so high, it may not be the right time to buy or sell. However, there are still homes being sold and a big reason for that is improved inventory. Buyers may not get the best deals but they can get great properties.
- Any recommendations with lenders? If you are planning to buy, whether you are selling a home or not, you may want to ask about lenders. Yes, you probably have done your own homework and checked out a couple of places. However, there may be options available to you that you are unaware of that allow for tax credits, lower rates or something else.
- Am I in good shape to sell or buy? How are your personal finances looking? Can you sell the property and have enough to be comfortable? Can you buy right now and be comfortable with the monthly costs? These are things you may be asking yourself but without knowing all the factors and what to expect, you cannot be sure you’re taking everything into consideration.
- Is what I want realistic? What are your goals? Lay it out in the first couple of minutes of the conversation. You want to buy this by this time. You want to sell by this time for this amount. Is that realistic or are you going to have to review your goals?
- Should I wait? Waiting may not be the ideal thing for you, or it may be what you need to do. Even if interest rates do not change much over 6 months, how will waiting 6 months benefit you? Will it give you time to save up, make improvements on a property or something else? Consider that as an option.
- Are there properties I’m overlooking? Where are you looking to buy? Are you looking at every property and neighborhood in that area? This is a mistake people often make because they rely on the properties they see on a single site or app.
- How will interest rates impact me? Whether you are buying or selling, you are impacted by the interest rates because it will have an impact on the other person in the transaction. If you can learn how interest rates are going to impact you, you can learn what options you have.
- What’s my competition look like? Whether you realize it or not, you have competition, for the house you want to buy or the buyer you want to sell to. You need to figure out what makes you the right option for someone and that may mean doing some work on your side.
- What other options do I have? Did you know that you can buy a home without having to put 20% down? Did you know you can transfer your mortgage to someone buying your house so that they get a break on the interest and you still get full value? There are options you have that you are not aware of and the realtors can help you learn about them.
- Why are you the right realtor for me? It’s a fair but important question to ask. Your situation is similar but also different in many ways. Are they the right fit for you and vice versa?
- What should I do in the next 30 days? Are you ready to get started? Do you need to get your finances improved? Does your property need work? How do you improve your situation and how do you get ready in the next month?
You want answers, predictions, expectations, guidance and insight to things you currently are just learning about. The real estate market is always changing and if you want to have your situation work out the best, you need to build a team of experienced professionals. Start with a realtor and focus on these questions and you will know how to move forward from there.
