Five Questions You Should Be Asking Your Realtor
While working through the mental process of what makes a great agent and someone qualified to take people throughout the homebuying experience, I have been trying to think of ways that make my experiences unique-and beneficial- to someone that chooses to work with me. What makes me better? What about my approach makes the home buying or home selling process easier than you would find it with someone else? And most importantly, what can I do specifically that is going to put you in the best home situation possible?
I’m going to go through a list of questions that I think are really important to consider when trying to find the right agent for your situation. I think that interviewing agents is EXTREMELY important. I know people that have gotten stuck with a realtor based off of either using them before and not being a good fit in a current situation, or using a friend recommendation without taking the time to make sure that they’re going to be able to guide you through the process. The home buying and selling process can be very arduous, and it is the largest financial investment that 98% of us will ever make. Therefore, here are a bit of my qualifiers as to why I might be a good fit for you.
1. What Makes You Different?
I feel that I have some pretty unique traits that don’t really come with most realtors. After graduating, I worked for a mortgage company for two years going all throughout the loan process. My first year was spent as an origination assistant, going through the application with borrowers, guiding the process of documenting financials, employment verifications, setting up and going over appraisals, the whole nine yards. In my second year, I transitioned to processing, which basically means that I did all of the things I previously mentioned, just in a much more thorough manner. This eventually got me to where I was processing a bit more rigorous loans that required more attention to detail that really honed in my skills. All that being said, there are not many agents that you’ll come in contact with that have the type of experience to be able to walk you through every part of the loan process with tangible knowledge of what it takes to get a mortgage.
2. Do You Have Any Fees?
Most real estate agents work really hard for the commissions that are written into contracts. Even if there is a home searching or listing process that results in a contract quickly, there are still a lot of things before closing that an agent is obligated to help you with. However, sometimes agents might work with a brokerage that carries a fee that they will then write in to the contract to be paid by the other party. If you’re a buyer, that can obviously make your offer much less attractive due to a seller being asked to pay for a service that they aren’t even utilizing being that it’s for the other agent. For me personally, Tyler York does not carry any fees that I have to pass on to a client. This allows our offer to be as attractive as possible if you’re buying, and your net return on your listing to be a better bang for your buck.
3. How Will You Market My Home?
Sometimes, homes just sell. Especially in Nashville. In April alone, I listed two properties that sold within 30 hours of being on the market at prices higher than the comps in the neighborhood. However, there are instances that homes can sit waiting for the right buyer. If you use me to list your property, there are a couple of things that come standard that I will be providing for you. I will schedule and pay for professional photos for your home, as well as use social media to boost your property’s listing. My brokerage also does a great job of sharing listings from all agents, so it will also be marketed through the other agents and shown to their prospective buyers as well. If you would like your home staged prior to photos, I have people that can help with that to make your home as attractive as possible for prospective buyers.
4. Do You Work Solo Or As Part of a Team?
This is a really hot button topic in a lot of real estate agent circles. Reason being, a lot of really big firms got really big through the team model. My opinion of it is this- works for some people, while for others it might put too many cooks in the kitchen making a transaction more complicated than necessary. At Tyler York, we don’t utilize this model because we feel like the home buying or selling process is as much of a personal transaction as it is financial. When working with me, you are my client. Your interest is more important to me than anyone else. In a team model, you might have a few agents that are invested in your transaction, but that can also take that 100% focus that you’re going to get from me and turn it in to 33% attention from three different people.
5. How Is the Area Doing Around Me?
For buying, this question obviously pertains to the area around where you are wanting to purchase a home. For selling, you are wanting to make sure that the price that your agent would be listing your home at is either 1) justifiable based on the most recent home sales around you, or 2) ambitious enough to meet the trajectory that your neighborhood or community is going towards in the next couple of months. I think this is probably the most important of all of these questions. If you’re buying a home, you do not want to get locked in to a sales price that isn’t sustainable when it comes time for an appraisal, leading you to have to go through another negotiation process with a seller. That is NEVER a fun conversation. If you’re selling, you don’t want to list at a price of a home that sold 9 months ago in your neighborhood that’s seven minutes from downtown and around a burgeoning community that is helping home prices soar. Therefore, make sure your agent is properly able to guide your through what is going on in your neighborhood and the areas immediately around it.