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Questions for Buyer Agents Questions for Buyer Agents
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The main value of these questions is to allow you to better understand and evaluate the agent
that is wanting to be hired by you. Hopefully, these basic questions will help you to determine
which agent is best for your needs. Even if an agent is recommended by a trusted friend, it is wise
to prepare a brief list of interview questions before you establish a relationship in writing. |
| 12 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Buyer Agent |
1. Tell me about your company's track record and reputation in the market place.
Ask them to explain how their company's structure, training and philosophy
uniquely benefits buyers.
Are they going to put your needs first or their own? Ask the agent to
give an example where their company took a loss (gave up a commission)
because they thought it was the
right thing to do. You want to hire an agent and an agency that
has good verbal and written communication skills,
technology skills,
financing skills, negotiating skills, people skills, a good general knowledge of the local
real estate market, and the time and desire to put these skills to work for you.
2. Give me an example of how agents in your office work together?
You want to know if you are hiring one person or a team. Whether the agent is experienced
or not, a one person team is more likely to avoid addressing difficult problems.
Generally, offices where agents work together provide better service. Does the agent indicate that
they consult with their broker and others in their office to solve problems?
3. Give me one or two of examples of how you handled an unhappy client.
All experienced agents have had happy and unhappy clients. You want to know how they tried to
make the unhappy ones happy?
4. Do you have a reference list of clients that I could contact?
Ask the agent for a reference from someone she worked for, but couldn't find a property for them to buy.
Any agent that has been in business very long is going to have positive references.
Some agents can produce dozens of reference letters.
Ask to see the list, and if you know someone on the list you are in luck.
Contact your acquaintance and ask for an honest opinion. Otherwise, ask the agents about each other.
The best agents will either tell you something positive about the other agent,
or they will decline to comment. Be wary of agents that give negative responses.
5. What happens if I'm not happy with the job you are doing to find me a property to buy?
You should be able to cancel a buyer agency contract, if the service is poor.
However, you probably have spent a lot of time educating the current agent about your preferences.
Before cancelling a buyer agency contract, ask the agent to bring another experienced agent or
their broker to a meeting with you so you can explain your concerns. Often another perspective will
clear up any misunderstandings that have occurred. Why start over with another agent
if you don't have to.
6. Who is going to be taking my calls when you are on vacation or are gone for the weekend?
Make sure you get the name, email address and phone number of the agent that will help you when
your agent is unavailable. You might want to call or email them just so you know that they
really exist and that they know that they will be helping you when your agent is unavailable. Sometimes
the contract on that properity that you wanted is cancelled. You want the listing agent to
be able to contact someone at your buyer agent's office that can help you write an offer before
someone else does.
7. Who is going to show me homes when you are on vacation or are gone for the weekend?
Some of the best homes sell quickly. You should not have to wait several days or more for your agent
to become available. Make sure you get the name, email address and phone number of the agent that
will be helping you when
your agent is unavailable. You might want to call or email them just so that you know they
really exist and that they know they will be helping you when your agent is unavailable.
8. When during the week are you available to show me homes?
Some agents only work as agents part-time. All agents have personal lives.
Even some full-time agents have a lot hours or even days in a week when they don't
return phone calls or email messages. However, real estate isn't generally an 8 to 5, five day a week business.
You need to decide how much availability and flexibilty you need from your agent.
9. How much notice before a showing do you need to set an appointment?
Many agents have busy schedules and some properties require a minimum of 24 hours notice to schedule a showing.
Some agents are fast, flexible and highly available. Some agents are busy with multiple clients
or require more time for planning and scheduling.
You need to decide how much availability and flexibilty you need from your agent.
10. Will I be riding with you or would it be better if I drove separately to showing appointments?
The right answer to this question is based on your preference and flexibility.
11. Will you be taking notes and/or pictures as you show me homes or should I?
After seeing several houses, buyers typically start to loose track of important details. Before leaving each
showing of a property that you might consider purchasing, be sure someone is taking notes and/or pictures
relative to your likes and dislikes. The perfect property is seldom for sale, but you do want to make an offer on the
best one available that meets your needs.
12. Do you expect all decision-makers to be at all showings or can one of us preview properties with you?
The efficient agent is going to prefer all decision-makers view all properties together. It is not generally
a good idea for any one decision maker to narrow down the list of possible properties without input from the other
decision-makers. Too often the decision-maker that sees only properties already preferred by the other
decision-maker kills the deal for everybody. If your Partner, Mom, Dad or Uncle Bob is a key decision-maker, it is best
to involve him or her early and often. |
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