How to find a good honest and sincere realtor?

[pnilesh]

Hello All,

How should I find a good, honest and sincere realtor?

I had a couple of unplesant incidents in the past with my “chosen” realtor. This Realtor was pushing me hard to come up with offers on a house in Poway. And I did not like the way he was doing things for me.

There are so many of them in San Diego that I don’t know whom to trust.

Any comments?

[SD Realtor]

Talk to your friends, family, coworkers, and people you trust. Ask them if they have had good experiences with any realtors.

Once you have a couple of names and numbers interview all of them. Look them in the eye and get a feel for them. Ask them for references. Tell them you want to talk to the past 10 clients, regardless of they were sellers or buyers. Get that contact information and FOLLOW UP. Call those people, and see what they say.

Calling or emailing on references is a big pain in the butt but it is useful.

Now this is secondary but since you are buying rather then selling when you interview these realtors you may want to check about other intangibles. See if they have insights into interest rates, and your own affordability. Ask them what their outlook is on the market and why they believe it will go up or down. See what sort of thoughts they have about your own financing… Any good buyers agent will really go over your budget with you more for their own protection then anything else. The reason I say this is because many buyers have biggers eye then stomach… that is they want to see homes that in reality they cannot afford. So the agent shows them lots of homes only to find out they cannot afford it. This is the agents fault, not the buyers fault.

Anyways it is tough to find a good agent because there are alot of lame ones out there.

I am sure I will get pummelled for even answering this post.

Rustico please let me know if you see any slants.. 🙂

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Talk to your friends, family, coworkers, and people you trust. Ask them if they have had good experiences with any realtors.

Once you have a couple of names and numbers interview all of them. Look them in the eye and get a feel for them. Ask them for references. Tell them you want to talk to the past 10 clients, regardless of they were sellers or buyers. Get that contact information and FOLLOW UP. Call those people, and see what they say.

Calling or emailing on references is a big pain in the butt but it is useful.

Now this is secondary but since you are buying rather then selling when you interview these realtors you may want to check about other intangibles. See if they have insights into interest rates, and your own affordability. Ask them what their outlook is on the market and why they believe it will go up or down. See what sort of thoughts they have about your own financing… Any good buyers agent will really go over your budget with you more for their own protection then anything else. The reason I say this is because many buyers have biggers eye then stomach… that is they want to see homes that in reality they cannot afford. So the agent shows them lots of homes only to find out they cannot afford it. This is the agents fault, not the buyers fault.

Anyways it is tough to find a good agent because there are alot of lame ones out there.

I am sure I will get pummelled for even answering this post.

Rustico please let me know if you see any slants.. 🙂

SD Realtor

[meadandale]

I can provide you a couple of referrals. One guy specializes in poway, penasquitos and the like. The other specializes in Allied Gardens, Del Cerro area.

[meadandale]

I can provide you a couple of referrals. One guy specializes in poway, penasquitos and the like. The other specializes in Allied Gardens, Del Cerro area.

[eyePod]

“And I did not like the way he was doing things for me.”
Most likely he was not doing things for you. SD Realtor’s and the other suggestions are good, however, only you can decide what is good for you. A little effort and forethought will go a long way.

[eyePod]

“And I did not like the way he was doing things for me.”
Most likely he was not doing things for you. SD Realtor’s and the other suggestions are good, however, only you can decide what is good for you. A little effort and forethought will go a long way.

[donaldduckmoore]

I have had this realtor for a long time. I knew her since I did my refi and now she is helping me with buying. She is not pushy at all and she is very patient. I offered a few houses in these past months but then backout and she was just fine. Let me know if you need her info.

[donaldduckmoore]

I have had this realtor for a long time. I knew her since I did my refi and now she is helping me with buying. She is not pushy at all and she is very patient. I offered a few houses in these past months but then backout and she was just fine. Let me know if you need her info.

[lniles]

If a realtor’s commission is based on the sale price, isn’t it in their best interest to have you pay the highest price possible? And isn’t this a conflict of interest for the buyer?

[lniles]

If a realtor’s commission is based on the sale price, isn’t it in their best interest to have you pay the highest price possible? And isn’t this a conflict of interest for the buyer?

[sdrealtor]

I think SD Realtor’s advice was very good. One last thing I would add to that is that it is crucial to find an agent with intimate knowledge of an area, neighborhoods and homes. It’s easy to pull up listings and drive around to show homes but knowing the crucial details about the homes and neighborhoods only comes from in depth experience in an area.

There are intracacies to every area that someone perusing the mls could never know. For example, there is a very nice neighborhood in my area built in the 70’s that is selling very well. Out of area agents have been selling homes there and have no way of knowing about major structural issues associated with the chimney’s. In fact many of the long time owners dont even know about but I would never buy one of those houses without getting a complete inspection on the chimney as replacement runs about $25,000 or even worse could cause a fire. A couple very nice community in Carlsbad and Encinitas have had their elementary school boundaries shifted 3 times in the last decade and have watched there children get bounced around from school to school. Examples like this are everywhere, so make sure you find someone that really knows the area not just someone with plenty real estate transaction experience.

[sdrealtor]

I think SD Realtor’s advice was very good. One last thing I would add to that is that it is crucial to find an agent with intimate knowledge of an area, neighborhoods and homes. It’s easy to pull up listings and drive around to show homes but knowing the crucial details about the homes and neighborhoods only comes from in depth experience in an area.

There are intracacies to every area that someone perusing the mls could never know. For example, there is a very nice neighborhood in my area built in the 70’s that is selling very well. Out of area agents have been selling homes there and have no way of knowing about major structural issues associated with the chimney’s. In fact many of the long time owners dont even know about but I would never buy one of those houses without getting a complete inspection on the chimney as replacement runs about $25,000 or even worse could cause a fire. A couple very nice community in Carlsbad and Encinitas have had their elementary school boundaries shifted 3 times in the last decade and have watched there children get bounced around from school to school. Examples like this are everywhere, so make sure you find someone that really knows the area not just someone with plenty real estate transaction experience.

[SD Realtor]

One other question Pnelish… Why do you think he was pressing you so hard to buy?

Was it one particular property your agent was pressing you to make an offer on? If so it could have been for some less then honorable reasons. Perhaps this was a listing he had? Perhaps this particular listing was offering a supersize coop brokers commission. If you want to post what street it is on I can let you know who is listing it and what commission they are paying.

Also as you know, if you could hold off for awhile I think you will get better pricing in the next few years. Specially if Poway, Sabre Springs, RP or RB is your pleasure. What part of Poway do you like?

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

One other question Pnelish… Why do you think he was pressing you so hard to buy?

Was it one particular property your agent was pressing you to make an offer on? If so it could have been for some less then honorable reasons. Perhaps this was a listing he had? Perhaps this particular listing was offering a supersize coop brokers commission. If you want to post what street it is on I can let you know who is listing it and what commission they are paying.

Also as you know, if you could hold off for awhile I think you will get better pricing in the next few years. Specially if Poway, Sabre Springs, RP or RB is your pleasure. What part of Poway do you like?

SD Realtor

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