Source: Yahoo! Finance —
The housing market is starting to cool down, which may make it a good time to stop looking for ways to pay rent, put your home on the market, or start looking for a new place.
In many cases, that also means working with a real estate agent. Understanding what this partnership entails will help you throughout the process.
To make the most out of the client relationship, here are a few rules that realtors would like you to know before you start working with them.
1. Don’t call other Realtors once you’ve committed to one
When you consider working with a real estate agent, you’ll likely need to sign a contract locking in a real estate agent to help you buy or sell a home. But once you commit to that agent, remember that you need to stick with them.
Don’t call other agents to help you find a buyer for your place or get another agent to show you homes.
You, like most buyers, peruse online listings before you go shopping, but you shouldn’t call the listing agent for the home directly. Instead, talk to your agent and have them contact the listing agent to get more information and schedule a showing.
2. Don’t bring your whole family to a showing
Showings are a good time for you to figure out what you want and find things that you like about a house. Adding a whole entourage to help you look at places may cause you to be overwhelmed or get too many opinions.
You also should try to leave kids at home while you’re looking so you can pay attention to the features of the home and not worry about kids messing up a home or running around someone else’s house.
3. No house is perfect
Every house is going to have its negatives. Maybe the lot is too small or you’ll need to put some work into the house. Sometimes it could just be that the house doesn’t feel like home.
Before you write off a house, try to see the potential in it and envision what kind of changes you may want to make. Some things you can’t change. For example, a small lot will always be small.
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