"Finding Your Dream Home is Just the Beginning"

A while back I happened upon Ginger Wilcox's blog called Blog by the Bay.  Ginger & her team of real estate professionals share some great information & insight that transcends from the west coast to life here in Hampton Roads.  I will, from time to time, post from Gina's blog for all to enjoy!

August 6th, 2010 By Ginger Wilcox

"Guess what? If you’re looking for your dream home, you might end up finding it yourself. Odd for a REALTOR® to say, right? When I meet with home buyers, I always tell them that I may not find them their dream house. It is quite possible they may find it online or because their friend knows someone who is selling a house before I even know they are ready to buy. I have talked to a number of home buyers recently who felt the agent didn’t do their job because the buyer found the house, not the agent.

Buying a home is very different than it was ten years ago. Consumers are armed with a tremendous amount of data easily found online. Your real estate agent’s job isn’t just to help you find your home, their job is to help you buy your home. Finding the perfect dream home is really only a small part of a very complicated transaction. Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com or even our very own blogbythebay.com- there are literally thousands of places for home buyers to find homes. A consumer can literally be inundated with data. A good agent can help you sort through all of that data.

For some home buyers, finding that perfect dream home is much more complicated than others. I had one client who wanted space for a tennis court in an area without a lot of land. Finding their perfect property took a tremendous amount of effort and time, and required extensive research and diligence on my part. There are many homes that aren’t on the multiple listing service or on one of the 1001 home listing websites that a good agent will know about. We sell a lot of off market homes to buyers that they could never have found online, but other times clients call us and say, “Hey, we found the perfect home. We would like to buy it.”  This is often when the difficult part of our job begins.
So how do you find an agent who can not only help you find your house, but also help you buy it- aka close escrow?  There are a number of things you should look for:

• A skilled negotiator:  The entire contract process involves a series of negotiations, even after the contract is ratified and you are in escrow. Your neighbor’s cousin who is an agent may be sweet, but can they save you money, time and aggravation by negotiating successfully for you?  This doesn’t mean you hire someone who negotiates just to hear themselves negotiate which can lead to a failed purchase- a contract falling out of escrow.  Negotiating successfully involves a series of give and take to reach the desired end result- a home purchase within the budget and time requirements.
• An educated real estate professional:  Have they taken classes beyond the pitifully small amount required to get a real estate license?  I took all of my licensing courses online.  Quite honestly, the process was a joke.  When I finished my licensing, my real education began.  I mentored with an experienced agent and took extensive course work to make sure I had the skills needed to do my job.  Make sure your agent gets ongoing education- this business isn’t standing still.  Ask them how they stay up to date on current rules and trends.
• A business professional: She should treat you, service providers, and other agents with professionalism and respect.  A good agent will not bad mouth her competition, nor her other clients, even if it is deserved.
• An organizer: Your agent is essentially your project manager to get your transaction closed.  Nobody wants a sloppy project manager.  A missed deadline in a contract could mean the loss of not only the transaction, but possibly an earnest money deposit for you.  An average earnest money deposit in Marin County is about $30,000.  I wouldn’t call that chump change.
• Trustworthy: Are they looking out for your best interests?  We talk our clients out of buying homes we think are a bad investment all the time.  Make sure your agent will do the same.
• Mobile: If your agent can’t assist you while out in the field, they can’t work for you the majority of the time.  Successful agents are not in their offices.  Find someone who is mobile and can assist you on the go.
• Tech Savvy: If your agent is mobile, they are probably not a technological neanderthal.  This is a good test.  Your agent doesn’t have to be a tech guru but they need to be up to date on the latest tech tools to not only help you find your house, but manage the transaction process along the way.
• Local: We see many failed transactions with out of area agents.  The majority of out of area agents don’t know the intricacies of the individual county, city and even subdivision rules that can impact a home purchase and later on, a home’s resale value.  Hire a local agent who knows not only the rules and regulations, but also has a pulse on the local real estate market and knows the local agents who will be influencing the transaction process.
• Good with the numbers: Buying a home can very emotional, but it is also a major financial purchase.  Your agent should be providing you comparable sales and comprehensive real estate market stats, charts & reports to help guide your decision making process, and should be giving you informed advice about the value of the home.

Your agent may not be the person who finds you the dream home, but a great agent will help make the complicated home buying process successful, no matter who found the property."