Whether buying or selling a house chances are you will need the help of a real estate agent. So what do you look for in an agent? Are they all the same?
Let’s cover the buyer side first. When you buy a house listed on the MLS you do not have to pay real estate commissions. The seller pays the agent for bringing a buyer to his house.
There are a few ways to go about looking at houses:
1. You can go from open house to open house in the area you are interested in.
(but keep in mind most houses are not held open).
2. You can check the internet for listings and call those agents individually to see JUST their listings.
3. Or you can find one agent and explain to him exactly what you are looking for and have him go to work for you.
Let’s say you pick option #3. Here are some things to look for:
1. Pick an agent who has a lot of product knowledge (not just about the area but also about the process of buying). An agent with product knowledge can make sure you don’t overpay for your dream house.
2. Pick someone who is not pushy. Someone who is “asking for the order” after seeing each and every house might not be the right choice.
3. Pick someone who is available full time. Some agents practice real estate part time, and that’s fine, but when a hot listing comes up you want to make sure you are one of the first ones in that house. Sometimes offer negotiations can occur at the oddest hours. He need to be there on your behalf.
4. Pick someone with lots of experience. He needs experience in writing up offers, negotiating multiple offers, avoiding all kinds of speed bumps that can come up.
It’s a FREE service. Why not take advantage of it. An agent will look for houses for you, make all the appointments, drive you to each listing, show you the houses, write up an offer, and negotiate on your behalf – all for free! You don’t HAVE to take this route but it’s something to think about.
How about when you need to sell a house?
Selling a house can be an emotional time. Some people decide to sell their house by themselves to save the commissions and that’s understandable. But let’s say you decide to employ a real estate agent, what do you look for?
First of all, be sure to interview a few agents and compare their services.
1. Pick someone who works in your neighbourhood. A local expert will know exactly how much the houses are selling for and how long it will take. He’ll know what type of buyers are most likely to buy your house and where to find them. He might even have somebody lined up from a previous listing.
2. Don’t pick an agent just because he quotes you the highest price. Unfortunately some agents will quote you a high listing price just to get the listing. The idea behind that is to just secure the listing for a few months and during that time keep reducing the price little by little until it sells. Problems with that are that when a listing sits on the market for too long
a) people (and even other agents) start losing interest in it.
b) people think something is wrong with the house
c) people start putting in “low ball” offers assuming that the sellers must be getting desperate
3. Compare their services and commissions. Find out what they charge and exactly what services they will provide for the money. Agents vary from agent to agent.
4. Pick someone who is not too pushy. He must be a little aggressive because that will be needed during offer negotiations but not against you!
Common (valid) concerns
1. Why not just go from open house to open house to find a place?
- Only 3% to 5% of listings hold open houses. So you will miss out on majority of the hot listings.
2. Why not buy directly from the listing agent?
- That is one option. However, remember the listing agent is working for the seller. It is his duty to get as much money as possible. First of all, there is no guarantee that the buyer commisison will be discounted for you since you will not be speaking with the sellers directly. Secondly, the contract will most likely have clauses that favour the sellers.
3. I will just call listing agents from each property to show me their listing.
- You can do that. But it can be a bit of a hassle to speak with so many agents and work with their schedules to time everything accordingly. Also, there is a good chance those agents will try to find out if they pick you up as their clients.
4. I don’t want to work with one agent and get stuck in a contract.
- It’s true some agents will want you to sign a contract so you work exclusively with them. We don’t do that. We don’t make you sign any contract.
We realize that buyers just want to see houses and buy one. THAT’S IT. Most buyers don’t really care about the inner workings on the real estate business.
You can view Brampton homes for sale here
To email us your criteria for a house so you can receive daily updates click here (coming soon)
By meeting with homeowners on a daily basis I’ve realized that there are some concerns that are very common amongst all of them. I know sometimes people think that this is “too good to be true” or “what’s the catch?”. I hope to answer some of the common concerns here.
1. How much commission do you charge?
- I charge 1% commission for myself and if another agent brings in the buyer then his commission is 2.5%. Maximum commission you will pay is 3.5%.
2. What’s the catch?
- There is no catch. All the listing agreements are very standard and in plain English. No fineprints, No hidden costs. Obviously if the house does not sell you don’t pay anything.
3. What do I get for this 1% commission? Is MLS included?
- Yes the listing is uploaded on the MLS with over 30 pictures and a virtual tour. For more details on exactly what is included please click here. To see samples of virtual tours from other Brampton homes I’ve sold click here.
4. Who selects the asking price for the house?
- You do. I provide with a detailed report (CMA) on exactly what houses in your area have been selling for, how the market is doing, how long it will take to sell and what price it can sell for. This allows you to make an informed decision.
5. What if I’m not happy with your services?
- If for any reason you are not satisfied with my services my brokerage will cancel the listing. No penalties or fees will be charged! If you are not happy working with me then I won’t tie you up in a contract. It’s just bad karma.
6. Should I expect bad service because I’m paying less?
- I can understand that being one major concern. However, if you look at the quality of work that I provide (photos, virtual tours, Feature sheets etc..) you can see it is up to par with other agent (if not above). I reply to all my emails within 14 minutes! You are welcomed to speak to any of my past clients to get a reference check. I keep you updated on your listing and the general market twice a week (if not more). I know you can cancel the listing at anytime with me so there’s always pressure to keep you satisfied.
7. Do you have knowledge of the Brampton real estate market?
- Yes. I specialize in Brampton. You can see more my recent sales for proof of that. I also personally view up to 10 houses per day on my own just to gain more and more product knowledge. That’s over 3000 houses per year!
8. Do you hold open houses?
- Yes I do. Open houses have lost their effectiveness recently because of the internet. But their is still a chance the right buyer will come through during the open house.
9. How are you different then any other agent at a small company charging 1%?
- I’m different in a few ways.
a) I work at Remax. It’s a premium brand for a reason. They hire only the most professional receptionists and administrative staff. This ensures that any calls that come in are dealt with professionally. We have 24 hour answering service. It’s not a “one man show”. I pay extra per month so that my clients get the best service. Remax also has more signs on the lawn. About a 38% market share in Brampton. More signs mean more calls coming in from buyers. The Remax website is the most sought after real estate company website in North America (based on an independant study). If a discount company is charging 1 percent and I’m with Remax charging 1 percent which one would you like to choose?
b) My track record. From looking at my recent sales you will be able to see I sell a lot of houses in Brampton. I don’t say this to brag about myself but just to make the point that lots of other people in Brampton have already trusted me with their houses. You are welcomed to speak with them if you like. It also means that I know what is in demand in Brampton and what type of buyers will want to live here. I also inspect up to 10 houses per day on my own just to stay up to date on the market. I want to make sure I know what’s selling and for how much.
c) Another reason I’m different is the quality of work I provide. I don’t know what other agents charging 1 percent are doing (because it varies agent to agent and I don’t want to generalize) but compare my virtual tours, photos, and Feature Sheets to theirs then you make the decision.
I don’t know what other Remax agents might be charging to list houses or what services they might be providing. This offer is exclusively from me.
Disclaimer: “Different commission rates, fees, and listing and marketing services may be offered by other Re/Max Franchisees or sales associates in Canada.”
If you have Brampton real estate to sell or looking to buy a home in Brampton please click here to contact me for great service and affordable commissions. I return all calls within 14 minutes!
Just got a listing this Saturday evening in Brampton and by Sunday afternoon it was sold! This is not the first time. My last 4 listings have been all selling within a week and for asking price or more. What happened to the recession? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining and neither are my clients but…where did the recession go?
Buyers are obviously not too happy. Everything is selling with multiple offers. Buyers are having to not only compete with other people but also go in with firm offers. I always recommend conditions on financing and home inspection but when you are in a multiple offer situation anything goes. Brampton homes that were sitting on the market for 2-3 months are selling for higher prices within a couple of weeks.
There is a shortage of supply in most pockets of Brampton. So if you have been wondering if this is a good time to sell or not let me reassure you IT IS! You’ve probably seen a lot of SOLD signs recently in Brampton yourself. I will be putting up the actual statistics for the month of August and how they compare to August 2008 in a few days.
To see some of my recent sales you can click here.
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To see what I do to sell Brampton homes click here.
To get a free home evaluation click here.
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