Buying a home can be a whole project in itself. If you’re moving to a new area or a new country you might want to first check out where the local shops and restaurants are. Do you want to be closer to them or do you prefer more green around you? The more criteria you know, the easier it will be for your Realtor Vancouver professional to guide you.
Having said that, perhaps you want to go with the flow. Your Realtor Vancouver professional can also give you a bit of the ‘lay of the land’. This could be useful if you’re not set on any particular area and you’re interested in making your next purchase a bit more strategic. Perhaps you want to target an ‘up and coming’ area with a view to resell in a few years? Either way, knowing all these questions can help you determine the right Realtor Vancouver professional for you.
Once you understand your needs and what you’re looking for, the following list of themes can help you when interviewing your potential Realtor Vancouver professional:
- Experience and Network
- Buyer’s Agency Contract
- Coverage and Approach
- Financing and Other Paperwork
- Closure and Negotiation Process
Experience and Network
It goes without saying that you want to work with a Realtor Vancouver professional who has experience. Then again, perhaps their commission is linked to how much experience they have. You’ll therefore need to find the right balance that works for you. Ask them to explain their rates as well as the types of clients they normally work with. Also, how do they make sure they stay on top of information and are tapped into their network? Ideally, you should be able to talk to previous clients to get a better sense of their approach and success rate.
Buyer’s Agency Contract
When you finally decide on your Realtor Vancouver professional, then you’ll sign an agreement known as a Buyer’s Agency Contract. It’s worth finding out about the details of this contract when you’re interviewing in case there are any potential surprises. Have a look at how locked in you are with that particular Realtor Vancouver professional once you sign. For example, you might prefer more flexibility and the option to work with other agents. It’s important to also read the termination and term length clauses as well as how much commission and fees they’re expecting at each stage of the process.
Coverage and Approach
What process does your potential Realtor Vancouver professional follow to find your ideal property? Where do they get their information from? How many clients do they tend to work with at any one time? This will give you an idea of how personal their service will be. If you have a target area in mind then you might also want to know how well they know that area. Perhaps you could also ask how many properties they’ve dealt with in that area over the past year. Knowledge and relationships are key when it comes to real estate. All of these questions will help you determine how much your potential Realtor Vancouver professional has of each.
Financing and Other Paperwork
Do you know how you’re going to buying a home and pay for your new home? Perhaps you’re selling your previous one and in that case how will the two processes work together? Ask your potential Realtor Vancouver professional for advice on how to approach that.
Alternatively, you might be looking for help and advice on how to mortgage your new home. Again, the right Realtor Vancouver professional for you in this case will have financing contacts. They might even be able to get you a special deal thanks to their relationship with those contacts. Finally, remember that they might also need a pre-qualification letter from your lender, so again, make sure you ask about expectations when it comes to documents.
Closure and Negotiation Process
This is both the fun part and the stressful part. You’ve found your ideal home but perhaps the price is a little higher than you had hoped. This is where you see the difference with a truly great Realtor Vancouver professional. It’s hard to get an idea of their negotiation skills without seeing them in action but you can ask them for previous case studies where they negotiated the price down. You can also ask references for their experience during this final process. Finally, of course you should also ask your potential Realtor Vancouver professional how they approach negotiation. Depending on how far you want to take it, you can also ask them about their training and how they learnt negotiating skills.
Parting Words for Interviewing a Realtor Vancouver Professional When Buying a Home
As long as you follow the process and you’re clear about what you want then you should easily find the perfect Realtor Vancouver professional for you. As you’d expect for such a large and competitive industry, you’ll have many options. The trick is to try not to overthink it and focus on the top 3 or so that jump out at you when you review the various ‘best of’ lists and websites. You have your wants and dreams and you know your questions so you should be fine. You can then relax as your Realtor Vancouver professional guides you through the process, does the heavy lifting for you and buying a home or finds you your dream home.
