How to Qualify a Realtor for your next Property Transaction? SYED HASSAN Royal Le-Page, Royal Brokers Buying or Selling a Real Estate property anywhere in the
2. Commission & Fees: If they are giving away too much of their
world is one of the most important decisions in one’s life
commission means they will not bring added value to you.
whether it’s for yourself or for investment purposes. In my last
They are hungry for your business. Any commission works for
15 years of this profession, I always joke with my buyers/cli-
them. I have seen ADS for $1,000 a listing. They will not do a
ents that after selecting your spouse, buying a property is the
proper job promoting and will cut costs on required expenses
next biggest decision in your life.
like: Flyers, advertising, travelling and open houses etc. A good realtor will ask for their fair share of commission
There are many factors to be considered when looking at a property:
because he/she will put their full experience and efforts into
Location; Value; Future Projection; Market analysis; Growth on your
your transaction.
investment; Taxes; Highways; Schools; Mortgage; Fit for your family needs; Closing cost; Transition; Inspection; Rental or lease items attached to the
3. Working Full time or not? If the realtor is not full time, they will
property; and finally during the process, you and your family’s privacy and
be doing a poor job missing on opportunities of prospective
confidentiality.
buyers or showings. They will try to accommodate you in the time they are free, not your free time. They will become
So, do you want to put such a big decision in the hands of an
experts in making excuses, missing on important calls or
amateur, inexperienced and unprofessional individual?
appointments. Priorities will be differ from a part time real estate agent vs. a full time real estate agent.
I have seen customers devastated at the hands of Real Estate professionals who are not doing their job properly.
4. Specialization: Check your Realtor’s credentials and their
Unfortunately, it seems like every other person gets their Real
area of expertise. A west end realtor will have trouble selling
Estate License for quick money but they lack dedication,
your house in the east end. They will not be effective in terms
knowledge and hard work. Now a day, you will find many
of knowledge, comparable properties and negotiations. Also,
families with one or two realtors in house. Some of them
if a realtor’s area of expertise is in pre-construction, they will
have other jobs like driving a taxi, own a convenience store,
do poorly in resale. They will not do all the hard work in
run their own accounting office, appear on radio shows or are
showings, they will be weak in negotiations, open houses and
mortgage brokers. People find quick cash in this field and do
vice versa. If the Realtor’s expertise is only in resale, they will
a few deals in a year just to make some extra cash. They lack
not be able to bring you exclusive benefits plus you could
education, experience and professionalism. Real estate has
miss out on promotional extras from the builder as well. They
become a heaven for part time business.
will not be able to negotiate the things that usually get missed or swept under the rug from the builder like: Assignment
What a prospective buyer or seller should do?
clause, Lease during Occupancy and capping on development charges in the contract which will cost you immensely at
Look for the following attributes before finalizing a Real Estate
the time of closing.
Professional: 1. Experience in the Industry: You can count experience in
5. Honesty, Ethics and Conduct: Some of the most important
banking, lending and financial advisor towards this industry.
factors in selecting a real estate professional are Trust, Honesty, Transparency, Ethics and how they go about
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MBE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY / MARCH 2020
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