How to find a real estate agent

Finding a good real estate agent is the most important part of purchasing property. They help to keep the transactions smooth, they help to look out for all of the details, they protect your interests, and they provide very helpful insight. The best agent is a professional who listens to your needs and wants in a property, conducts themselves in an ethical and timely manner, someone who knows the market, and who also genuinely is interested in helping you find the perfect place. Here is how you find them.

Look for Real Estate agents that are part of the Realtors® National Association of Realtors and have the Realtors® logo on their card. Not all real estate agents are Realtors®. Realtors® that are part of this Association pledge to follow a strict code of ethics, and are held to a higher standard of conduct than the ordinary business practices of other real estate agents required by law. As you begin looking for real estate agents that are part of the Realtors® Association, you will notice that not all agents are part of this group.

Ask your family, friends, and co-workers if they could refer any good real estate agents to you. A lot of real estate agents get most of their business directly from referrals. Since you know these people that you are asking for a referral, ask them to describe their experiences working with the real estate agent. Try to find an agent who goes above and beyond their responsibilities and really satisfied the needs of your friends, family, or co-workers.

You can also look online and research real estate agents in your area. Do a Google search for the top real estate companies in your area. Make a list of these companies, and then follow up with them by calling their offices or checking out their own company websites. A lot of real estate websites have agent profiles that you can read and learn more about their track record and areas of expertise. Look for their experience, length of time as a real estate agent, areas of expertise, and any customer testimonials they might have listed. If possibly, follow up with the customers they helped out to how they felt about working with their real estate agent.

One of the easiest ways to find a real estate agent is to drive around your neighborhood or neighborhoods in your area and make a note of the home for sale. Read the signs to see which agents are being used. You should also make a note about when the property went on the market, and how long the property stays on the market. Agents that list multiple properties in an area probably know the area very well, have multiple leads, and are very well referred. Additionally, agents that sell homes quickly in your area might also be the best agent for you to contact. It all depends on their results and you can track those results by knowing the homes they have listed.

Open houses are also a great way to meet real estate agents and collect their business cards. Take a look in your area for any open houses and make it a point to attend and meet with the listing agent. You will be able to feel them out and see how they represent their clients and the property they are selling. If you're thinking about selling your home, pay attention to how the agent is showing the home. Are they personable, informative, and knowledgeable? Do they have any take-away promotional material about the home? Do they describe the features of the home in a positive way? Additionally, you can also find other business cards for real estate agents that might have left their information behind at the open house. Collect these cards or write down their information.

If you have tried all of the steps above, and you still have not found a real estate agent that you would like to work with, you could always take a look in your local Sunday newspaper for ads run by real estate agents in your targeted neighborhood. Write down a list of the agents names, and then look up their websites or agencies. You might be surprised how many of them have listings in your area. You can also take this new list of real estate agents and compare it to the signs and open houses you see in your area to see if these agents already have listings close to you. These agents could be specialists in your neighborhood, and you could get a hold of them to meet with them and learn about their experience.

If you have done all of the steps above, found a few agents, met with them, and still feel like they are not the perfect real estate agent for you - ask them for referrals. Agents are happy to refer buyers and sellers to associates if the service you need is not a specialty of theirs. Agents know many other agents that specialize in the area you are looking for. Additionally, you can even follow up with mortgage brokers to find an agent that they trust and know has a proven track record.