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When planning to buy a new house, a real estate agent is like the guiding light. Therefore, selecting the right agency or person is extremely important to make an informed decision.
However, home buyers often make mistakes when recognizing some alarming issues in the selection process.
You must find the one that will make your buying experience smoother and settle with the best home and deal.
Therefore, to guide you in your journey, we have listed some of the most common red flags you must avoid when building your trust in a realtor or real estate agent.
Why Do You Need A Realtor?
Buying a home is a complex process. It involves making clever decisions, planning finances, and finding the best deal in a competitive market.
Therefore, home buyers need a realtor to help them navigate smoothly through this complex journey. They can help you find the following solutions during the home-buying process:
- Crafting an optimum budget.
- Finding quality properties.
- Negotiating with the sellers.
- Finding a good mortgage plan.
- Understanding the hidden costs.
- Recognizing and finalizing the best deal.
As you can understand from the list, the duties of a realtor include everything in the home-buying process. Therefore, you must find someone you can completely trust.
Realtor Red Flags
Given below are some of the most important red flags of a realtor that you must recognize before starting the home-buying journey—
1. Part Time Real Estate Agents
Certain individuals work as real estate agents only part-time.
This is one of the most common agents you’ll encounter. However, it is also one of the riskiest kinds.
Becoming a good and trustworthy real estate agent takes complete engagement and involvement in the field.
The real estate market involves making strong connections, factual information, and building relationships.
However, to fulfill these milestones, one must be in the field 24*7.
Therefore, you must look for someone actively involved in the industry. They can cater to every detail you’re looking forward to.
Moreover, first-time home buyers and sellers often have whimsical expectations. With an experienced and involved realtor, you can find the guidance to keep your expectations realistic and achievable.
2. Lacking Knowledge About The Neighborhood
Geography is one of the most important aspects of the real estate market. If an agent is helping a client sell, buy, or bid on a property, they must know the locality well.
However, if your realtor needs to learn about the neighborhood, they are a red flag!
The price of any real estate depends on the following factors:
- Distance from major locations like schools, markets, etc.
- Nearby schools.
- Nearby commute options.
- Safety and security.
Therefore, someone needs this detailed knowledge to help you decide the right price for the property.
Moreover, a good real estate agent must know every small detail about the place. That includes shortcut routes, direct neighbors, and cost of living.
If you’re looking for someone you can trust, you must find a realtor who informs you about the demerits of the location as well.
Excessive traffic, surrounding noise, possibilities of dampness, wildlife intervention, etc., are some of the finest details a trustworthy realtor must highlight.
This can help a home buyer make the best decision and know the neighborhood completely before moving in.
3. When You Face Communication Issues
Sometimes, you’ll come across real estate agents who do not give you the chance to speak. To recognize this red flag, you must look out for the following issues:
- They overlap your sentences.
- They try to feed you the words.
- They decide what’s best for you without considering your opinion.
- They get confused while explaining a proposition.
- They ignore your calls or messages.
Communication is the key for any real estate agent. It helps them understand the client and negotiate with the buyer or seller according to their client’s expectations.
Therefore, if your real estate agent needs to communicate with you, you might want to drop their service.
Moreover, if you work with an overtly persuasive realtor who doesn’t care about your opinions or preferences, you might land on a dissatisfactory deal.
Therefore, you must minutely follow your real estate agent’s communicating capabilities before deciding.
4. Working With A Relative
Another major red flag you must avoid is hiring a relative for your real estate investment. Moreover, you must also avoid agents who are trying to sell their relative’s property.
In both cases, you can miss out on the real picture of your investment and the property.
We don’t buy or sell our houses every day. A real estate investment is one of the most important financial assets for most people.
Therefore, you must take your time with this major decision.
If your agent is related to you or the seller, they might work with a different agenda. This can break your game.
Therefore, you must look for someone professional who can help you with only one motive: to provide you with the best service.
5. Excessively Pleasing
Lastly, an agent trying to please you overtly is a red flag right away!
A real estate agent needs to maintain a professional approach. They must remain transparent and help you find a reasonable solution.
However, realtors who need more experience and exposure often try to please the client overtly. In this process, you can lose transparency and end up with false hopes.
Moreover, judging this attitude can actually help you find out the experience level of your agent.
To test them, you can come up with strange propositions. Next, if you find them agreeing to your bizarre ideas, you know your red flag!
Make An Informed Decision!
If you come to the conclusion that your agent isn’t a good match, or they’re simply a bad agent, there are several steps you can take.
Firstly, you should request a written release from the agreement, outlining your reasons for wanting to end the relationship.
If there isn’t a cancellation clause, the agent may still be willing to release you with a small fee. Moreover, you should request that your home be removed from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and wait for the listing agreement to expire.
However, if the agent is already under contract with a buyer, parting ways with them becomes tricky.
Therefore, if things aren’t going well and you’re not getting the results you want, you may want to proceed with the transaction and get a better agent next time.
