How to Find a Realtor You Can Trust?
More Americans are using real estate agents to buy and sell their home than ever before, even among the younger generations.
A new Harris Insights housing consumer study… shows a full 90% of consumers use real estate agents to buy and sell their homes. This is… up 5 percentage points from the last study in 2014 and up 9 percentage points from the first study conducted in 2001. The study asked the opinions of 1,000 people who had either bought or sold a home in the last six months.
And despite fears that Millennials are replacing real estate agents with technology, the study found that is not the case, and 91% of those ages 18 to 34 used real estate agents in their transaction…
The study also found that more educated consumers are more likely to use a real estate agent, 94% of those with a college degree used agents in their transaction. Those with only a high school diploma used agents at a rate of 83%.
How To Find A Realtor You Can Trust
A realtor is unlikely to save your life, examine your innards, or even take your temperature or look into your nose and ears the way your doctor might. They’re not going to live with you and help with the housework or make all of your meals. You don’t start looking for a real estate agent because you’d like someone to have dinner with or considering devoting the rest of your life to. (Hopefully. Because that would be weird.)
Nevertheless, just like with a doctor, domestic help, or a social acquaintance, choosing a realtor requires a degree of trust, comfort, and compatibility. Their qualifications matter, but so does a certain intangible something that makes them a good fit. Like the bands, you listen to or the TV shows you end up binge-watching, it’s not always easy to know in advance what will work and what won’t. That doesn’t mean you can’t consider a few key things in advance and help narrow your search considerably.
Let’s look at a few tips on how to find a realtor you can trust. They’re guidelines, not rules – but they’re derived from experience, both personal and those shared by colleagues and friends. Ignore them at your own peril.
Go Name Brand
There are professions in which the rogue outlier may be just as good or better than the guy with the company shirt and the nice website. Mechanics can be that way – you usually trust the dealer (even though they’re more expensive), but beyond that, all bets are off. The reputable looking shop down the street might be mediocre or even terrible while the smelly guy everyone just calls ‘Scooter’ could end up being a genius with engines for little more than pizza money.
Restaurants are sometimes that way, too. You’re in an unfamiliar town, something on the small side, and you have three options. There’s a McDonald’s, a sit-down restaurant from a well-known chain, and a scary looking place that might be called “Piggy’s” (or that might be the name of the place that burned down next door). Two of these options, you know exactly what you’ll get – one is cheap and familiar, the other will be reliably just-above-adequate. But “Piggy’s”… that could go either way. It may be the find of your entire vacation or introduce you to entirely new forms of gastroenteritis just waiting to spawn in your small intestines.
Real estate agents, though?
There are good ones and mediocre ones, but more often than not, if they’re not associated with a local broker – someone with an actual office and a dozen other agents in and out, pre-made “For Sale” signs with logos and pictures on them, glossy business cards with phone numbers AND email addresses, then… let’s just say you’d better have a very good reason for trusting them with such a major event in your life. There are people with the license who simply choose not to do it for a living, or who primarily buy and sell for specific companies or as part of a renovation gig. I’m not saying it’s impossible that you’ve stumbled across a diamond in the rough market. But if you’re not sure who’s who, stick with name brand realtors.
Make sure your agent is a member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR)
On that same note, there are various levels of certifications and accreditations you may encounter. Some brokers aren’t above coming up with a few of their own just to make their own agents sound even fancier.
Ask Friends, Neighbors, and Internet
This one seems like an obvious step, but sometimes we skip the easiest things. Maybe we don’t think of it, or we’re uncomfortable asking. Most people are happy to help if approached correctly, however. “You guys moved just last year, didn’t you? Do you mind if I ask who you used as an agent? Were you happy with her? What did she do well? What do you wish she’d done differently?”
Of course, you want to make sure you don’t push for anything too personal, but seriously – how many people do you know who aren’t ready to give their opinions or advice about just about anything with the least bit of encouragement?
do a little basic internet research
It’s not stalking if they’ve intentionally established a professional presence. You’d be surprised how much you can learn – good and bad – by a few virtual visits. How’s their website look? What do they post about on social media? If they’ve been reviewed anywhere, take those ratings for what they are. Unhappy individuals or people with alternative motives are sometimes more likely to leave reviews than happy people who’ve had good experiences. Still, more than a few negative comments might be a red flag.
An agent without an active internet presence in 2021 is inconceivable. If they don’t show up quickly and easily in your search, you’ve probably stumbled across someone in a witness protection program and this is their cover – which you’ve just blown by trying to actually hire them to help you buy or sell the property. Nice job, Slick – now they have to relocate again.
Open Houses
My wife and I have had two truly amazing real estate agents in our lives. One we reached by simply picking a name brand we’d heard of and calling the local office. She was the person whose turn it was to answer the phone, and also the best thing that ever happened to us in terms of selling our home on a tight timeframe. The other best-agent-ever we discovered after attending dozens of open houses in our new town. We were looking for a possible home, not a realtor, but we couldn’t help noticing how few of the agents hosting the events seemed to actually know much about the property without constantly consulting their little sheets – and even then often seemed a bit confused.
Most, honestly, didn’t seem to care that much. The market in this particular area was such that you could pretty much put a porch on an abandoned refrigerator box and have competing offers by sundown, so maybe they didn’t need to be that good. Still, it was discouraging.
we found a great home thanks to a real estate agent
After visiting several homes one day, we drove past a property that caught our eye. It wasn’t being shown, but there was a sign out front with the agent’s name and number. We called and left a voice mail with a few questions, but it was a Sunday afternoon and we weren’t sure we’d hear back that day – or ever. Ten minutes later, the phone rang, and it was her. She answered our questions about the property, which it turned out wasn’t all we’d hoped. As I was thanking her and preparing to hang up, she asked me a quick question about what we were looking for. Then another. And a third, each with a thoughtfulness suggesting she was mentally running through her personal little database, looking for connections.
“You might suggest that your agent looks at such and such,” she volunteered. “Or, there’s thus and thus…” She proceeded to offer the most useful guidance we’d received since beginning our search – all while assuming we already had an agent. She was just being helpful because we’d called about one of her properties. Better yet, she clearly knew the area inside out had great suggestions.
“We don’t actually have an agent,” I finally said. “How busy are you?” Three weeks later, with her guidance and enthusiasm, we secured a great home in a neighborhood we figured was out of our price range for well below the asking price, thanks to the insights and efforts of our agent.
It won’t always be so clear, and you probably don’t want to hop from open house to open house hoping to find your dream realtor. But if you’re looking for a home anyway, you might as well take some tours. Along the way, you’ll get a very good feel for the different agents you encounter. You may fall in love with one, but even if you don’t, it will help you clarify for yourself what you’re looking for when ready to hire your own.
Schedule an Interview
You can call this an “Introductory Meeting” if you prefer, but it’s the same thing. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with meeting several agents before deciding who you’d like to use. Come prepared with several specific questions – stuff you actually care about, like when it’s easiest to reach them or what their approach is for deciding which homes to bring to your attention or whatever. Be prepared to answer a few questions in return, honestly and completely.
Ask for references – recent clients they’ve had. Then call them. You don’t want to take up more time than necessary with people who are doing you a favor, so know what you want to ask ahead of time, then be ready if the conversation naturally goes some other direction. Beyond whether they liked the agent or not, ask what that agent did well, or what they wish had been done differently. Just like with book reviews or restaurant recommendations, specifics are usually far more helpful than generalities.
Sure, there’s a balance. You’re hiring a realtor, not purchasing a spouse from overseas. But do a little digging and asking and don’t leave it all to chance. At the same time, be respectful of others’ time and make sure you demonstrate appreciation for their willingness to help you out. While you’re reading up on how to find a realtor you can trust, keep in mind they may be researching how to find clients that won’t drive them crazy.
What, you think you get to be all selective but they’re automatically going to love you?
Educate Yourself
It’s almost always a good idea to secure the services of a realtor when you’re ready to buy or sell a home or other property. Unless you do such things all the time as part of your own profession, there are simply too many details to handle and angles to consider to take it on by yourself and hope for the best.
That doesn’t mean you have to go in completely clueless, however. While you never want to become those people from the insurance commercials (“What is that, an adjustable spanner? Good choice, Steve!”), there’s no reason not to do some basic reading up on a real estate in your area, what goes into the process of buying or selling a home, how to handle negotiations, etc. Remember, you’re hiring a real estate agent, not a nanny or personal wetnurse.
While your agent should be able to answer most of your questions and guide you through the process, he or she shouldn’t replace you as the adult making the final decisions. It’s your home, your money, and your life being most impacted by every decision along the way. Your informed decision-making should be in play as well. You don’t have to become a real estate agent yourself to learn a little about the process.
The Accury blogs are a great place to start
Although, if you’re reading this, presumably you’ve figured that out already. Like the rest of the Goalry family, we prioritize sharing useful information in plain, simple English. Sure, we’d like to be part of your search for a lender or draw your attention to our next-generation personal finance apps to help unify your personal or small business finances. It’s our belief, however, that offering a free library of resources on almost any financial topic is one way to do that – not with the hard sell at the end (or in the middle) of every post, but by establishing ourselves as a trustworthy source of ideas and information.
Of course, when you are looking for a lender or shopping for home insurance options or needing recommendations for refinancing, we’ll point you in the right direction as well. When you’re ready. When you ask. Until then, we’re at your disposal with the free information and insight – because that’s how we roll.
While you should start with Accury and the rest of the Goalry family, no one should limit themselves to one source of information when it comes to personal or small business finances (or most anything else, for that matter). The point is, set aside a half-hour several times a week just to learn a bit about whichever part of the process grabs your attention – how inspections work, why realtors look at “comparables,” or which remodeling projects are most likely to pay for themselves when it’s time to sell. You’ll soon start figuring out which sites you trust, and which parts of the process interest you the most.
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The Accury Store Is Here to Help.
Use Available Technology
I’m not talking about those “rate your agent” sites necessarily. (I haven’t used one and am genuinely curious whether people who have been happy with the results.) But when trying to figure out how to find a realtor you can trust, it’s worth asking yourself what you have in mind by “trust.”
If you mean that you want someone working in your best interest who’ll be honest with you, that shouldn’t be too difficult to find. If you mean you want to know that they’re getting you the absolute maximum for the home your selling or the best possible price on the property you’re buying, or that they’ll be able to meet your every need and housing desire in the neighborhood you want for the price you’re willing to spend before next weekend, those are different levels of tricky.
Maybe a better way to think about how to find a realtor you can trust is to think in terms of looking for a real estate agent you can partner with to make these major decisions and do the difficult work of home shopping or selling. Maybe our focus when choosing a realtor shouldn’t be about how effectively they’ll work for us so much as how effectively they can work with us. A confident realtor isn’t threatened when you get excited about something you saw on Zillow. They’re comfortable with new technology, balancing its benefits with its limitations effectively.
If you’ve visited Accury before, you know we have some exciting new apps coming out soon which will make it easier than ever before to categorize your spending, effectively pay down your debt, manage your various accounts, and monitor your credit score.
We’ll also be unveiling tools to help you make more informed decisions about remodeling or renovating your property to sell or evaluate the most accurate appraisal price possible for any property you’re considering buying. These tools don’t replace a good agent, but neither does the right agent replace good tools.
Conclusion
In the end, you gather as much information as you can, then make your best call. Most of the time, that’s the most any of us can ask. There’s no single right answer to how to find a realtor you can trust, so you start by trusting yourself.
If there’s anything we can do along the way, you know where we are.