As a new buyer, one of your first important tasks will be deciding what broker — if any — you’d like to work with. If you decide to go it alone, that’s absolutely fine, but most people enlist the help of a good real estate broker to help them with their purchase. A broker* will be your advocate throughout the entire buying process, doing everything from helping you locate the best properties on the market that meet your specific requirements and budget to helping you find the right mortgage broker and real estate attorney. It’s important to have a good team working for you to make your buying process smooth and pleasant. Best of all, as a buyer, you don’t even have to pay your broker. The seller pays the commission, which is split between the selling agent’s company and the buying agent’s company.
A few good resources:
Referrals
If you have friends who have recently bought or sold a property in your desired area, ask if they worked with a broker and whether or not they would recommend the person they worked with. Personal referrals are often a great way to find a broker that you “click” with.
Open Houses
Open houses are another place to meet brokers who work with the types of property you’re interested in. In this setting, you also get the chance to talk face to face and get a feel for rapport.
On-line
You can also search broker biographies on-line. Most of the large brokerage companies in New York have bios for all of their agents on the company websites. Have a look and see if one stands out to you.
* The term “broker” in this article is used in the conversational sense (interchangeable with “agent.”) Legally, a real estate “broker” is the larger real estate company — Corcoran, for example — and an “agent” is an individual who represents that company. In NYC, there are 2 levels of agents: salespeople and associate brokers. Associate brokers are individuals who are fully qualified to set up their own brokerages, but still choose to work under the umbrella of a larger brokerage company.
Do you have a great real estate broker? How did you find them? Leave a comment below and share your experience.
Open houses do seem like a good way to find a real estate agent. A well put together is a really difficult and it would be nice to know our agent could do that for you. Also, it could be a good place to meet another realtor who is looking for people to sell the home too.
I like your idea of looking online to find a good real estate broker. It sounds silly, but I believe one of the best ways to find the right agent is by looking for their social media profiles. If you can connect with them over social media, you can look at many aspects of their company and even interact with them before you ever step foot in their office. My sister is currently trying this out in her search for the right broker, and it seems to be working well for her, so far.
I love your advice to ask for referrals. It seems that a lot of people don’t recognize how far it can go to seek the help from other people. Do you have any other tips about finding a good real estate agent?
I want to make sure that I get the right real estate. It makes sense that I would need a good broker! I’ll be sure to ask my friends and family to see if they have anyone they would recommend.
I appreciate your tip to find a good real estate broker in order to find a good real estate attorney. It can be so hard I think to find a good real estate attorney simply because their aren’t as many of them around. The next time I need to purchase real estate I’ll be finding a good real estate broker so they can help me find a good real estate attorney.
Thanks for pointing out that it’s good to talk to friends and family members who have recently moved, about their real estate agents. You also said that open houses are a great place to meet potential brokers. I think it’s good to choose a real estate agent that has connections with other home contractors that can help you with home renovations.
I like your advice on attending open houses. You can go online and find some in your area. I think having face to face interactions is a great way to find someone you can work well with.
It makes sense that you would want to get referrals from friends who have recently bought or sold property in the area. That way, you can ask them about their broker, and if they did a good job. Plus, you know that someone you trust has used them before.
This article mentions that it is a good idea to ask friends who have recently bought or sold real estate to recommend a good broker to them. I really love this suggestion because I am in the process of finding a piece of real estate with my wife. We have been having trouble finding a real estate broker but this article is really going to help us!
This is one of the most informative information I’ve read. It really helps a lot for find a right real estate broker. Thanks for sharing this article!
I loved your comment about going to open houses to meet brokers. IT really makes a lot of sense, since that is where they would be mingling to get information on homes and find new clients. I feel like doing some research of your own would be useful too, like reading reviews online or asking a potential broker for references to clients they have helped in the past.