Tasks to Tackle Before You Hire a Real Estate Agent

by Carolyn Kay 04/26/2020

Whether you’re buying a house or selling a home, the smartest move you can make is to hire a real estate agent to represent your interests. But before you do, take these important steps so you can be best prepared for the next stages.

Have An Idea Of What Kind Of House You Want To Buy

If planning to purchase a new house, prepare for your real estate agent interview by figuring out what kind of house you’re interested in. For this, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the various house style terms, like ranch, colonial, craftsman, Tudor, etc. Knowing these terms and knowing what you want will enable you and your agent to communicate easier, and your agent will be able to more quickly find the kind of homes you’d be interested in.

Get Your Financing In Order

Nothing’s worse than finding the house of your dreams, only to find out you can’t get approved for a mortgage. Before you do anything else, get your financing in order. Speak to a lender about getting pre-approved for a mortgage. This will let you know how much you’re approved for and how much house you can afford. Your pre-approval status is also a powerful bargaining chip if for some reason you need to compete with other bidders.

Be Ready to Move

If you hire a good real estate agent to sell your house, you could be looking at a closing date just 30 days away. A good agent can have potential buyers ready to close fast. Are you ready for that? Before hiring your real estate agent, make sure you’re ready to move. Have a contingency plan in place if you need to move out quickly, including:

Storage facility

School documents for your children

Place to move into

Cleaning company

Know Where You Stand With Your Existing Mortgage

You should have a very clear understanding of where you currently stand with your existing mortgage if you’re thinking of selling. You need to know the minimum of what you need to sell your house for so you can make the profit that you hope to gain. Also, go through your mortgage paperwork to ensure there will be no surprises regarding special clauses or contingencies when it comes to selling the house. Depending on the restrictions of your mortgage, there may be caveats as far as transferring title or changing terms.

Ask About the Real Estate Agent’s Track Record

During your interview with a prospective real estate agent, it’s fair to ask them what their track record is. Real estate agents keep tabs on how many houses they’ve bought and sold in any year, so the agent will be able to rattle off their “statistics” for you. Be sure to ask how long their houses stayed on the market, too, since that will reflect on the agent’s salesmanship skills.

These steps will ensure that your real estate experience will be a positive one. Once you’ve gone through these steps, you’ll be ready to hire a real estate agent to buy or sell your home!

About the Author

Carolyn Kay

As a Real Estate professional, I specialize in helping my clients buy, rent or sell properties in Westchester County. I am passionate, dedicated and committed to my clients and my first priority is to provide them with first class service and guidance throughout the entire process. It has been said that I go above and beyond for my clients to get the deal closed! I have experience working with clients who have financed their purchases with either a conventional, VA or FHA loan and have a good understanding of how they work; no sale is too big or too small for me to take on. My family and I relocated to England for 2 ½ years, this was a wonderful experience but at the same time, it was overwhelming. I have first hand knowledge of the challenges as well as the positives in discovering a new community. I was born and raised in Scarsdale and once married, my husband and I decided to raise our two daughters here. Both of our daughters successfully graduated from the Scarsdale schools and are both married, living and working in Manhattan. After living in the same house for 30 years my husband and I took the leap, sold our home and bought and renovated a condo townhouse in another town. Once again we are discovering a new community and fully understand the highs and lows of selling a home we loved and buying and making a new home. I feel that my personal real estate experiences have made me more in tune with my client’s needs and therefore better able to help them navigate through the complex process. Please call me so that I can put my knowledge and experience to work for you.