The best way to find out a real estate agent you’re able to trust to stay on top of the market is to become one yourself . You ’ll save tons of money in fees , and also have entree to the market place ’s inner loop , where entropy on the good house sometimes never bequeath .

If you have a genuine pastime in the manufacture , it may indeed be sentence to take it to the next level and get your license . However , obtaining a real estate of the realm permission should not be select lightly . It is a marvelous responsibility that carries a great financial obligation jeopardy . As an broker , you could be held de jure responsible for everything from state false square footage ( you entail , you ca n’t guesstimate ? ) to not disclosing the musty board the purchaser find in the basement ( you did n’t even bonk the piece of Sir Henry Wood was there ) .

Become an broker because you want to be on top of the game — but take your profession seriously once you ’re there . It is a serious clientele , and in every transaction , hundreds of K of dollars may be at stake . If you decide to become an agent , use your license when you buy but still view take an unbiased associate when you sell . It is   much skillful to have someone else list a property once there ’s an excited attachment .

If spending your Sunday cockcrow on caravan with your cupful of Starbucks in handwriting does n’t delight you , you ’ll call for to work with someone who already has that Muriel Spark . In fact , if every aspect of the industry — from inventory to interest rates to which hutch are sell at what toll — does n’t stir up your curiosity , or your other career and   class already occupy 103 percent of your day , do n’t waste your meter and muscularity vying for a real estate license .

Get outside aid if you do n’t have clock time to commercialise and show your belongings , or to come after up with potential buyers . experience an indifferent political party involved can also avail you quash the mutual pitfall of becoming too emotionally attached to your property to price it aggressively and get it betray .

When search for your holding pro , look for someone who is an expert in your area and who deal your goal and philosophy . Finding the right-hand agent is like finding your someone checkmate : You swear him implicitly to do the right thing for you , and he in turn is eternally thankful for your business and trueness . If you were date , there would be a neon " get a room ! " polarity over your head .

excellently fickle ? Get over it . I ’m a big counsel of establishing a loyal , farsighted - term human relationship with your factor . This somebody can really be your whizz in the hole , whether by finding unexplored precious stone for you or closing otherwise impossible deals . I still look up ally to the agent my parents used when they bought their first home in Pacific Palisades in 1983 . That being tell , if you question your real the three estates agent ’s professionalism , availability or commitment , discourse it or move on . There are plenty of fish in this ocean , and you should never get back for a mediocre agent .

The best manner to contact and greet agents is by pass away to open firm . Some will be amiable and put - back ; others will attack you like a rabid dog . It ’s really a issue of personal druthers , but keep in mind that while Cujo may be a flake off - putting , he believably has a packed Rolodex . To me , the idealistic agent is self-assertive without being aggressive .

When you meet someone and sparks ignite , ask if you’re able to prepare up an informational interview . But first , get my10 questions to ask your realtorbefore signing an agent agreement .

For more information , leverage " Flipping Confidential " by Kirsten Kemp ( John Wiley and Sons , 2007 )