Find the Perfect Real Estate Agent with These 5 Easy Steps
When venturing out into the world of real estate investing, your real estate agent is your guide to purchasing your ideal properties. So, in order to make sure you maximize your chances of success, you want to make sure the agent you choose is the best.
According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, there are approximately 140,000 real estate agents active in Canada. This means you have a lot of options to choose from, but you want to narrow down the best agents. So, in order to help you find the most qualified agent to help you secure your next deal, here are five steps you can take to make sure you are choosing the best real estate agent available.
However, before we dive in, another important real estate professional you need to have in your corner is a well-connected mortgage agent. So, if you are ready to start hunting for the perfect agent, click the link below for a free strategy call today.
Step 1: Determine Your Investment Strategy
One of the best things you can do to start narrowing down real estate agents is determining exactly how you want to invest. Are you looking to buy a home for yourself? A single-family investment property? An apartment building? Just as there are a wide array of investment strategies to choose from, there are agents who specialize in those types of investments.
Determining your investment strategy will also help you begin to narrow down where you would like to invest, a key factor to consider when choosing a real estate agent to guide you through the purchase process.
Step 2: Find Your Ideal Market
Before you start selecting agents, you want to decide where you would like to invest. Most of the time, investors are going to want to select an agent who is familiar with the local market. That way they already have a firm understanding of where the best places for you to invest in are within specific cities or regions.
Think about it, would you typically trust a real estate agent in Chatham to sell you a home in Thunder Bay? Or would you instead trust an experienced local agent. Most of the time, people would turn to the local agent to help them. However, there are always exceptions in the case of well travelled or incredibly experienced and knowledgeable real estate agents.
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Step 3: Choose a Handful of Agents to Interview
Once you have decided how you would like to invest and where you would like to begin your search, it is time to begin selecting agents you would like to interview. To help you narrow down a selection of realtors to consult, here are some things you should keep an eye out for.
Activity
When you are looking to pick the perfect realtor, you want someone hard-working and dedicated to their job. Otherwise, you could end up being better off trying to buy a property by yourself. Look for agents who are active online, whether they have a blog, YouTube channel or active social media feeds that indicate to you that they are going to put in the time and the effort to genuinely help you.
Experience
While you are looking into these agents, look for signs of experience. Sometimes agents will advertise how long they have been working in real estate, but sometimes you need to do a little more digging. Check to see how long their pages have been active. Have they been around for years and have proven they know what they are talking about? Or maybe they are new to real estate but have done a high volume of business in that time allowing them to gain experience quickly.
Reviews
If you want to know if a realtor has the experience needed in order to help you succeed, read their reviews. That way you can have first-hand accounts from past clients of theirs and see exactly what you can expect to experience working with them. If an agent has a ton of genuine positive reviews, you know that they are going to do their best to help you succeed. However, keep an eye on the reviews to ensure they are genuine, some people will pay for false positive reviews in order to create an elevated sense of status over their competition.
Make sure you read any bad reviews as well, sometimes a single bad review can become a massive indicator that this realtor is not going to give you a good experience, and in other times, bad reviews may simply be disgruntled past clients who did not get what they wanted, regardless of if it was their agent’s fault the deal fell through.
Step 4: Conduct Your Interview
Once you have chosen the agents you would like to interview, reach out to them and try to schedule some time to talk about their experience so that you can get a feel for how they will be to work with.
It is incredibly important that while you ask them about their experience, you also take some time to get a feel for their personality. Ideally, you are planning to work with your realtor for a long-time and you want to make sure this is someone you will like working with.
From there be sure to ask them about their experience, whether they are a part-time or full-time agent and the types of transactions they typically work on. Ideally, you want to find a full-time agent who has plenty of experience working with investors who have strategies similar to your own. It is a bonus if they are also a real estate investor themselves.
Take notes on each realtor you speak with so you can compare them later.
Step 5: Select Your Real Estate Agent
After you have spoken with a few agents, it is time to reflect on your notes and select the agent who meets your criteria best. Once you have found one, go ahead and give them a call and enjoy your next step to financial freedom.
After you find a real estate agent who suits your needs, the next thing you will need is a great mortgage. That is why at LendCity, we work hard to help you find the best mortgage rates from the ideal lenders to suit your needs. To get started with us today, visit LendCity.ca or give us a call at 519-960-0370. Alternatively, you can click the link below for a free strategy call with our team today.