Where do YOU start? What is the most important thing you look for in a home? Any "must haves" or "don't wants"? I am a new Real Estate Agent and I dont work with alot of other agents I can get advice from so I figured I would do my own bit of market research. Any insight on your past buying/selling experiences would be greatly appreciated!!!
Personally, I think those are questions that you should ask eah of your potential clients as each of their answers are likely to be different.
I do ask them some of the general questions..I guess I am just wondering some of the best ways to advertise, what to advertise, and so forth. I know what I look for and where I look, but like you said everyone is different so I was hoping for some various imput.
One thing I did not like about the agents I've dealt with is they tend not to listen. They think handing me a bunch of msl lisitings means they are helping me. When I say I do not want to see houses above a certain price range ... I do not want to see houses above that range. When I say I want a house with an acre or more of land ... I do not want to see houses on 1/2 acre. When I say I want .... <get the picture> They often act like I don't know what I want but they do. I'd rather see 3 houses with all my wants than 30 of what they think I want! SO... ask EACH client what he/she wants ... what is a must have and what they woud like but are willing to live without. After dealing with several agents we went the FSBO route. Purchased 3 houses FSBO and sold two the same way. Best real estate expereinces we had. With the internet it was a breeze doing real estate searches ourselves.
Don't get locked in on a neighborhood yourself. Our realtor kept steering us to the same neighborhood only because we wanted a pool. We told him we didn't object to putting in our own pool if the lot was level. He kept steering us to new home construction in this neighborhood. Since we've lived here we have seen lots of other neighborhoods we preferred and could have had our own pool. For example, he never showed us the McGee's area or Sanders Rd. area. We are very unhappy with our home and while I have to take the ultimate responsibility, I think the pressure he applied on us "to close" wasn't helpful. I almost walked away from closing and gave up our $1000 I was so disgusted in the final days. Since then, the repairs that I have had to make to the shoddy "new" construction have cost way more than that. My advice is same as ncmom's. Listen to your customer's needs and don't try to stick them where you think they should be. That's a very short-sighted approach to sales and costs you in the long run. I can assure you the agent we used will never get to list this house when we sell and I have steered neighbors away from him based on my experience.
Also, when selling a home for someone or listing a home... DO NOT say "Oh I can get $xxx,xxx for your house NO PROBLEMO!!" And then when you get the first offer (which is STUIPD LOW) DO NOT tell me oh this is as good as it gets! You work for me! Not the nitwit tring to ask 10k less that what we are asking AND asking us to pay all of closing. HA!! Thank you. When looking at homes I look to see how well the house was kept up & the yard.
Thanks so much for all the responses. I feel the same way!! I want what I want and that's it. Well my plan was to treat people the way I would want to be treated and it sounds like I am on the right path. Where do you look for homes, I know I have used the internet, and I occassionally look at the homeplace...any other places out there you have used in the past? Thanks again for all the help!!!
We just drove around, picked up those magazines they have at the supermarket, and perused www.realtor.com
When looking for a new home, scout out to see what the homes are selling in your area first! That way you know how much you can get for your home if you do FSBO. Going with a realtor will get you more exposure tho. :wink: I wish you all the best in your new adventure!!!!
