How to Choose a Real Estate Agent

Robyn Moreno: I’m Robyn Moreno for Howdini.com. If you are in the housing market as either a buyer or a seller, you may be looking for a good real estate agent. But how can you tell if a person is honest.

Here to help us tell the honest brokers from the potentially shady ones is Gerri Willis. She is CNN’s Personal Finance Editor and author of Home Rich, Increasing the Value of the Biggest Investment of your Life.

Welcome Gerri. How are you?

Gerri Willis: Hi Robyn.

Robyn Moreno: Why is it important to: one, interview these real estate agents; and two, what questions should I be asking?

Gerri Willis: You’ve absolutely got to interview these agents because you don’t know who’s going to work with you unless you really sit down with them face to face. Look, get some suggestions from friends and relatives, people in the area who can tell you who’s really good, who’s in touch with the market and then sit down and grill them. You have to ask them questions to find out; are the active in the market you’re interested in and the neighborhood you’re interested in? And do they sell the kinds of houses you’re interested in? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been lined up with an agent who is actually selling gabillion-dollar houses. Well, I’m not buying a gabillion-dollar house. You really need to find a match in terms of price tag.

Now, a great way to go after this is to think about, is the agent active in the neighborhood I’m interested in or if I’m selling my home, are they active in my neighborhood? Look, if you find a really good agent who lives three blocks from you, if you’re trying to sell this house, they can be over to your house pronto to help you sell. They can show your house at any hour. They’re available all the time. They know all the ins and outs of the neighborhood. It’s a real help if you’re looking to sell.

Robyn Moreno: What are the responsibilities of an agent?

Gerri Willis: Well, they’re supposed to give you all the information you can. Look, if you’re a seller, they’re supposed to tell you every offer that comes in on your house, if people are qualified. You know, sometimes I think people worry, am I getting all the information I should from your agent? They’re not supposed to let anything hang that and these folks are going to help you do everything soup to nuts. They’re going to help you stage your home. You know, they’re used to the entire process. They’re not just there for the clothes. They’re not just there to land the contract. They have to help you get the house ready for sale as well.

Robyn Moreno: Are there really some signs of a good agent? Anything I should be looking for?

Gerri Willis: Well, your agent should be web savvy. You’re probably going to have to put your house on the web to sell it. They got to know the technical aspects of their job as well as having great personal communication skills. You know, you’re living for somebody who really can do it all and you’ll only know that if you really sit with them and talk to them one on one.

Robyn Moreno: What about some flags and one that’s really bad or maybe just unscrupulous?

Gerri Willis: Well, I think you really want to think about, is this person doing it full time? There are lots of newbies on the industry that came in during the boom who really don’t have a lot of experience. I think right now, you should be looking for somebody who’s been in the market place for at least eight years. That means they’ve had experience in the down market so they know what to expect right now.

Robyn Moreno: What is the role of a home inspector and why do you say that one should not be so closely aligned with your agent?

Gerri Willis: Look, the home inspector is probably the person who is most important to the process of buying for the buyer and the person gets the least investigation by the buyer. Typically, people just simply take the recommendation of their real estate agent. Well, I have to tell you, a lot of these inspectors are very close to the real estate industry. They know what inspectors do their inspections really quickly and those are the people they’re going to recommend. You want somebody who’s going to have your interest at heart, who is going to spend a long two hours looking at absolutely everything having to do with the house, the roof, the basement, the foundation, the plumbing, the electricity and make sure that everything works properly. This person has to work for you and not the real estate agent.

Robyn Moreno: Gerri Willis, thank you so much for your information on trying to find the right real estate agent for you.

Gerri Willis: My pleasure/

Robyn Moreno: I’m Robyn Moreno for Howdini.com.