There are so very many Realtors® in town and we are all noisily vying for your attention…. be it staring at you from the rear of a bus, inviting you to sit on a bench, grinning from inside the local paper or buying drinks at the event you attended last night. How on earth are you supposed to choose one to best represents your interests, aren’t we all the same after all?
Well, I’m happy to say that no, we are not all created equal……and there is a Realtor® out there who will best align with your personality, your mindset, and your goals; you just need to figure out which one.
It’s rather like dating, or so I’m told. There needs to be an easy chemistry and a trust factor, an ability to clearly communicate and share information, a flexibility to meet up on evenings or weekends, a response time that reduces your anxiety, and of course there needs to be a fun quotient despite this being one of the biggest transactions of your life.
If you are a buyer looking for that special place to call home hiring a Realtor® is hands down the very best no-fee service that you can imagine. Commissions for purchasing a home are paid by the seller. As the buyer, you get all of our advice, our market knowledge, our corny jokes and our team of capable partners – including mortgage agents, insurance experts, inspectors, contractors etc – to guide you through the process. All this for a whopping zero dollars. That’s right, $0.00, now I’d say that’s pretty awesome and exactly the opposite of that Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing”.
Diligent Realtors® should be providing you with listing information and recent comparables, with insider knowledge regarding various neighbourhoods and future development plans. We should be able to estimate the prospective value of a purchase to ensure that it is a solid investment and we should be honest and openly working in your very best interest as our client, first and foremost, no question.
If you dream of purchasing a home in the Elora, Fergus or Guelph area, for example, sit down with a Realtor® who is fundamentally familiar with these locations. Preferably someone who lives in the area and understands the local market. Connect with a Realtor® who knows the best schools, most fun activities, friendliest coffee shops, sweetest cardio busting trails and tastiest restaurants. Check out their websites and ask around for referrals, set up initial meetings to chat candidly about the process, about what to expect and your projected timelines. You need a Realtor® who will answer your questions transparently, someone who is willing to explore with you and one who has your best interests at heart. You’ll know soon enough if you can work together, and I’d suggest refraining from signing anything that contractualises your relationship until you have seen several homes together and have developed a level of comfort and mutual trust.
Your realtor should be able to provide advice about the process of purchasing, such as whether the listing price is reasonable and what conditions, if any, should be included in the offer to safeguard your best interests. The very last thing you need to discover once your offer has been accepted is that the roof leaks, there’s no water pressure and the foundation is cracked! We provide a dedicated extra pair of eyes during a property visit; eyes which are tuned into seeing beyond the pretty and directly into the ugly. We search for quiet alarms such as aluminium wiring, sketchy workmanship, water stains, and other potential disasters. Due diligence is our middle name, and we have a mandated fiduciary duty to provide the highest standard of care for our clients.
I’m always astonished by market factors which contrive to place a buyer in a purchasing position after only one short visit to a property. I mean seriously, you spend longer contemplating which shoes to buy or which socks to wear. A ten-minute walk through and you are willing to make a $500,000 decision? Without question, a sizzling hot seller’s market calls for significantly different purchasing strategies than either balanced or buyers markets. As Realtors® it’s our obligation to provide advice and knowledge while ultimately reducing the anxiety inherent to the process of trading in real estate.
At the end of the day, most Realtors are here to make sure that you are primed to make an intelligent decision based upon fundamental factors. We are here to guide your offer through to ultimately holding the keys for your dream home, vacation pad or investment property in your very own slightly sweaty palms. Your future Real Estate journey has many paths, choose wisely….. choose a local Realtor®.