Hiring the right agent to represent you buying a home can be stressful. You should interview those you are considering hiring. Here are the Top 3 Questions to ask when hiring an agent when you buy a home.
- What is your experience?
Experience is a key ingredient to the success of an agent. Finding the right agent for you may be different than the right agent for someone else. It’s not just about experience in general. It’s about experience related to your situation. If you’re looking to buy a condo in Barrie then choosing an agent in a Barrie office who usually sells farms isn’t the right choice. Find out their experience in the situation that you find yourself in. Ideally you get someone who either has direct experience with your exact situation or someone with access to that experience.
What I mean by that is if you have a unique situation there may be very few people who have done it before. If you trust someone though to work with you when buying a home then their access could still help you. Who do they have in their network, their office, that they can leverage in those situations they come across that are new. In everybody’s job they come across new situations they’ve never dealt with. Real Estate is no different.
- What will you do if the seller won’t pay your commission?
Usually a buyers agents commission is paid for by the seller. When the sale of the home goes through, some of that money is sent to the agent representing the seller and the other to the buyer. Sometimes though, in some rare cases, the seller doesn’t want to pay all or any of the buyers agent commission. This means that, as per a standard buyer representation agreement, that you will have to make up the difference.
There are several ways to deal with this situation. You should ask your agent what they will do if this situation arises. If you don’t, and they don’t have a plan, it could cost you thousands when you buy your home in Barrie.
- Can I talk to your clients?
I covered this in more depth in this blog post but speaking to an agents clients is one of the best ways to find out what they’re like. Learn how they communicate, what they liked and disliked about them, and confirm everything they are telling you about themselves. A good agent will have people who will happily talk about their experiences with them.
There are plenty of other questions you can ask a real estate agent before hiring them. These 3 will get you a good start when you’re looking to buy your next piece of real estate. If you have any questions do not hesitate to leave them in the comments or reach out directly.
