Don’t search for a house …

January 15, 2008

Buyers working with a real estate agentprobably sounds pretty dumb on a real estate website but …

search for an agent instead.

Here’s why. Every real estate agent can show you every house for sale in the Charleston South Carolina real estate market. If you call five different agents, not one of them has any more houses that they can show you than any of the others. So more importantly than finding a home is to find a professional real estate agent to help you with the purchase of your dream home.

I got a call the other day from someone who wanted me to show them a house. It wasn’t my listing, I asked if they had found it on my website and they had. The next question is automatic for all real estate agents, “are you working with an agent” and the answer was yes, but “she is on vacation”. Well, I take a vacation now and then (there is practically no chance that I’ll be available during 4th of July week or Thanksgiving week) but I can’t help anyone who is currently working with another agent so I had to tell him to wait until she returned or to call the listing agent and ask if they can show the house (and I provided the name and number to him).

Because real estate has a low barrier to entry, there are a lot of real estate agents, some good, some not so good, some full time, some spare time and many part time (and basically in today’s more difficult market, many have been forced to become part time real estate agents and get a full time job to bring home a weekly paycheck).

Here’s what I suggest. If you are online, visit some websites and find some agents who you think will be helpful to you. Send an email and see who responds timely and call a few other agents and see who answers their phone (or returns the call quickly because sometimes they are talking with someone when your call comes in). Find someone you are comfortable with. If you are out driving around and visiting open houses, don’t worry if the house doesn’t fit your needs, maybe the agent hosting the open house is someone you’d like to work with.

It’s your money, it’s an important purchase, don’t trust it to the first real estate agent you come across and remember, if you aren’t working with a real estate agent who is helping you with the purchase of your home, you aren’t represented in the transaction. 

As they say, let the buyer beware. Don’t search for a house, search for an agent (and find the very best agent you can to represent you).

Read more about buyer representation. 

Posted by Howard | Filed Under Blog, Buyer Tips, Charleston real estate, Search 

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