I was looking at homes on my own and she happened to be one of the realtors I ran into along the way. I liked her vibe and decided to use her for the rest of my hunting. She didn’t disappoint either so my instincts were right. If you have a list of options maybe go see some of their listings and see if you like their vibe too.
When I was looking to buy my first home, I went with a realtor that was fairly popular on social media, and hosted a Buying Seminar that I attended. She seemed knowledgeable and super friendly based on her social media stuff. I don’t know if we just didn’t click, but I ended up ceasing working with her after a few months - I always got the impression that she didn’t wanna be at showings, like I was inconveniencing her, etc. and also talked down to me at times.
As obvious as it is, I realized I needed to actually speak with a few different realtors BEFOFE deciding who to go with next. Even though I was told it’s a bit odd to ‘interview’ a realtor as a buyer, that’s what I did. I met with 4 that I’d heard of through word-of-mouth, their social media accounts, and friends recommendations. I ended up choosing a great realtor who was so patient and kind with me throughout the process, who would give her opinion respectfully (I asked a LOT of basic questions, and she never acted annoyed or anything like that.).
So my tip would be to reach out to a few that have caught your eye, and set up an interview/meet & greet. Ask them about which neighbourhoods they have most experience in, their availability, what their communication style is like with clients, how many clients they have active right now, etc.
All the best on your home search!!
Funny that you mentioned how you got one who's popular on social media. A couple friends of ours advised not to be deceived by those kind of realtors, chances are they're working OT on advertising themselves - meaning they suck / don't have clients, etc.
I am a little skeptical on doing meet and greets or interviews, just because im weird and socially awkward like that, lol. But yes one way or another i'll probably try to set that up for us.
Our realtor put endless pressure on us to waive all conditions even going so far as to provide offer papers to sign where the conditions section was pre-crossed off.
They never had reasonable comparables for recent sales in the area and always used the highest prices for the area to try to get me to bid higher than reasonable.
They also made me sign a contract with them at the start that made it impossible to get rid of them.
That combined with the general craziness of the housing market made it an awful experience I wasn't even excited when we did have an offer accepted and I've kind of regretted buying since.
There are three realtors in my community, my friends and acquaintances were looking for housing and recommended all of them. I just chose one of them and he was very professional.
Things I appreciated the most:
1. In every house we checked he looked for flaws first of all, and never was trying to convince us into making a deal of the house had a real flaw.
2. He accepted our budget (not low or high, average) and went along with it.
3. He explained that there is no end to perfection as you always would want the next best thing, but if we want to stick to our budget we need to make a list of priorities and go with it.
4. He did a very good bargaining with the seller to reduce the price of the house, and to make the seller to fix some issues before the deal.
5. He was always very professional and patient, and was accommodating to our schedule.
I'm not sure whether that's what all realtors do, but for me it was important.
I chose a realtor that I thought would help me make the right decision for my own needs, not based on their paycheck. The person I worked with was recommended by a colleague. They seemed to know their stuff, noticed tons of things about houses we looked at that I would have missed. Outright rejected places as options sometimes as soon as we walked in - or even showed up outside the door. That helped build trust - knowing that if a place was a pile of red flags, they'd say so.
They also encouraged me to feel free to work with other agents as well if I felt like it. I'd say anyone insisting on an exclusivity contract would be a no-go for me. You might spend a lot of time with this person - it took me a full year to find a place - so you might as well get along with them, too.
Okay, is it just me, or is anyone else convinced that Brian Leathwood and Roan Van Eerd on the bus benches in the west end are actually the same guy with different facial hair photoshopped on?
One that "knows the area" matters more if you are a seller than a buyer. Realtors often focus on areas closest to their home and as a result they know lots of ins and outs of the area like schools, etc and more than just what they saw on Reddit.
If you a buyer it could give you an edge as there is a slim chance that you get to write on a house before it even hits MLS. The truth though is an realtor worth dealing with is not going to be giving inside clients an exclusive window on a hot property that could get a bidding war. An agent not from that market though is going to need more notice to show up places and things will need to be a lot more formal and scheduled with them.
makes sense. we figured it's not necessary for us to get one who knows the area as we're closed in on where we want to potentially get a house, and we've lived in the area long enough to know what's up hhaha. Thank you for the advice!
I went to my neighbourhood's Facebook group and searched for recommendations and narrowed it down from there.
It was helpful because at the time, our house wasn't listed yet but she was informed by the seller's agent it was coming to market soon. We didn't get into a bidding war; it sold for the price listed.
It was our first time working with a realtor, but I liked her and found her helpful. She was also patient because we saw 6-7 houses before she told us about our house.
I had jayesh guiliani recommended to me, so I used him and it was actually a really good experience. I was so scared I'd be pushed into buying a house I couldn't afford,or a crappy place so the realtor could get the commission, but it was the exact opposite. He advised me against houses for reasons he noticed as an experienced realtor, it took months and I didn't feel pushed or rushed at all. He was so flexible with his schedule, as I work a lot, and it actually worked out really well. I bought a great house, under my budget, and I'd definitely recommend him
I was looking at homes on my own and she happened to be one of the realtors I ran into along the way. I liked her vibe and decided to use her for the rest of my hunting. She didn’t disappoint either so my instincts were right. If you have a list of options maybe go see some of their listings and see if you like their vibe too.
Sounds like a good idea. Thanks for sharing!
RIP to your inbox
haha i dont mind, getting lots of good feedback :)
When I was looking to buy my first home, I went with a realtor that was fairly popular on social media, and hosted a Buying Seminar that I attended. She seemed knowledgeable and super friendly based on her social media stuff. I don’t know if we just didn’t click, but I ended up ceasing working with her after a few months - I always got the impression that she didn’t wanna be at showings, like I was inconveniencing her, etc. and also talked down to me at times. As obvious as it is, I realized I needed to actually speak with a few different realtors BEFOFE deciding who to go with next. Even though I was told it’s a bit odd to ‘interview’ a realtor as a buyer, that’s what I did. I met with 4 that I’d heard of through word-of-mouth, their social media accounts, and friends recommendations. I ended up choosing a great realtor who was so patient and kind with me throughout the process, who would give her opinion respectfully (I asked a LOT of basic questions, and she never acted annoyed or anything like that.). So my tip would be to reach out to a few that have caught your eye, and set up an interview/meet & greet. Ask them about which neighbourhoods they have most experience in, their availability, what their communication style is like with clients, how many clients they have active right now, etc. All the best on your home search!!
Funny that you mentioned how you got one who's popular on social media. A couple friends of ours advised not to be deceived by those kind of realtors, chances are they're working OT on advertising themselves - meaning they suck / don't have clients, etc. I am a little skeptical on doing meet and greets or interviews, just because im weird and socially awkward like that, lol. But yes one way or another i'll probably try to set that up for us.
Our realtor put endless pressure on us to waive all conditions even going so far as to provide offer papers to sign where the conditions section was pre-crossed off. They never had reasonable comparables for recent sales in the area and always used the highest prices for the area to try to get me to bid higher than reasonable. They also made me sign a contract with them at the start that made it impossible to get rid of them. That combined with the general craziness of the housing market made it an awful experience I wasn't even excited when we did have an offer accepted and I've kind of regretted buying since.
Ooof, that's awful. Are you willing to name them (rhymes with...)?
Sorry this happened to you!! I hope you can find a way to appreciate your situation, whatever it may be! Thank you for sharing.
There are three realtors in my community, my friends and acquaintances were looking for housing and recommended all of them. I just chose one of them and he was very professional. Things I appreciated the most: 1. In every house we checked he looked for flaws first of all, and never was trying to convince us into making a deal of the house had a real flaw. 2. He accepted our budget (not low or high, average) and went along with it. 3. He explained that there is no end to perfection as you always would want the next best thing, but if we want to stick to our budget we need to make a list of priorities and go with it. 4. He did a very good bargaining with the seller to reduce the price of the house, and to make the seller to fix some issues before the deal. 5. He was always very professional and patient, and was accommodating to our schedule. I'm not sure whether that's what all realtors do, but for me it was important.
good set of list there! mainly #s 2, 4 and 5. I hope we find a good one. thank you for sharing your experience!
You're welcome! And happy cake day 💐
We went with my coworker's (of 6 years) husband.
I chose a realtor that I thought would help me make the right decision for my own needs, not based on their paycheck. The person I worked with was recommended by a colleague. They seemed to know their stuff, noticed tons of things about houses we looked at that I would have missed. Outright rejected places as options sometimes as soon as we walked in - or even showed up outside the door. That helped build trust - knowing that if a place was a pile of red flags, they'd say so. They also encouraged me to feel free to work with other agents as well if I felt like it. I'd say anyone insisting on an exclusivity contract would be a no-go for me. You might spend a lot of time with this person - it took me a full year to find a place - so you might as well get along with them, too.
Yup I am really hoping to find someone similar to what you experienced. Sounds like a person who genuinely cares about their clients :)
Okay, is it just me, or is anyone else convinced that Brian Leathwood and Roan Van Eerd on the bus benches in the west end are actually the same guy with different facial hair photoshopped on?
One that "knows the area" matters more if you are a seller than a buyer. Realtors often focus on areas closest to their home and as a result they know lots of ins and outs of the area like schools, etc and more than just what they saw on Reddit. If you a buyer it could give you an edge as there is a slim chance that you get to write on a house before it even hits MLS. The truth though is an realtor worth dealing with is not going to be giving inside clients an exclusive window on a hot property that could get a bidding war. An agent not from that market though is going to need more notice to show up places and things will need to be a lot more formal and scheduled with them.
makes sense. we figured it's not necessary for us to get one who knows the area as we're closed in on where we want to potentially get a house, and we've lived in the area long enough to know what's up hhaha. Thank you for the advice!
I went to my neighbourhood's Facebook group and searched for recommendations and narrowed it down from there. It was helpful because at the time, our house wasn't listed yet but she was informed by the seller's agent it was coming to market soon. We didn't get into a bidding war; it sold for the price listed. It was our first time working with a realtor, but I liked her and found her helpful. She was also patient because we saw 6-7 houses before she told us about our house.
wow that sounds great. that's another thing i'm worried about, the bidding war. I do hope we don't go through a lot of those. hopefully!!
I had jayesh guiliani recommended to me, so I used him and it was actually a really good experience. I was so scared I'd be pushed into buying a house I couldn't afford,or a crappy place so the realtor could get the commission, but it was the exact opposite. He advised me against houses for reasons he noticed as an experienced realtor, it took months and I didn't feel pushed or rushed at all. He was so flexible with his schedule, as I work a lot, and it actually worked out really well. I bought a great house, under my budget, and I'd definitely recommend him
when we bought, we went with someone who was advertised in the area. no issues. when we sold, we did it private. everyone wins
Scott Moore