Jeremy Rains
Hi, this is Jeremy Rains with the Tony Ray Baker Group.
Tony Ray Baker
Hi, I’m Tony Ray Baker.
Jeremy Rains
And this is 13 Things that You Need to Know Before You Hire a Realtor.
Tony Ray Baker
Jeremy. I was thinking.
Jeremy Rains
Yes, Tony.
Tony Ray Baker
So this is how this came about. I was thinking I wanted to buy a vacation home somewhere in the mountains for the summertime. And I was thinking how would I pick a Realtor? Which is funny, but not because we really should have a list of how to pick a Realtor. Absolutely. And then I thought how great that would be to help our own clients on how do you pick a realtor? What should you be looking for?
Jeremy Rains
Right. Exactly.
Tony Ray Baker
So we brainstormed and here’s our list of how to pick a Realtor.
Jeremy Rains
Yeah. And number one.
Tony Ray Baker
Okay, I’m going to read number one. Thank you. First thing for me was full time realtor. That was a no brainer. It was really super easy. You need someone who’s working in real estate full time period and not a side hustle.
Jeremy Rains
Absolutely. And number two is experience in education. It’s also a no brainer. Right. I want somebody who has at least ten years experience and cares enough about their clients that they constantly pursue education. That’s more than just required for holding a license, right?
Tony Ray Baker
Yeah, absolutely. Credentials is number three. And that’s related to education. For example, to have a CRS designation, the agent had to complete an extensive amount of education over a five year period. They also had to get a GRI degree or credential. And they had to sell like 5 million in property, improve all of that. And so that’s a very experienced agent right there. And that’s just one credential. A lot of us hold 3410. Right?
Jeremy Rains
Exactly. And number four is professional reputation. So again, I look for an agent who has a great reputation and is well respected amongst other agents and professionals related to the real estate world.
Tony Ray Baker
Right. That’s super important to a buyer right now. In a market where we have multiple offers, the seller’s agent will actually recommend specific buyer’s agents because of their reputation. Yes, we’ve seen that and we’ve seen it many times. And it helps that our buyer get that offer accepted.
Jeremy Rains
Absolutely.
Tony Ray Baker
So it’s important client reviews would be number five. Yay. Google for creating a platform with five star reviews. Because let’s face it, if I’m looking for a house in San Diego, I’m definitely looking for a realtor with great reviews. And I’m going to read everything that every client says about that agent. I want to know we all go out and read all these restaurant reviews before we get a little dish for $20, let’s read the reviews on agents. Right.
Jeremy Rains
That’s super important. Maybe a little more important.
Jeremy Rains
Number six is exceptional service. Did you know that most buyers agents don’t even run comps for their buyers right now? It’s crazy because it’s one of the reasons there’s a 30% dropout rate in home purchases. And don’t you want to know when you’re writing an offer that what you’re offering is what the house is going to appraise for?
Tony Ray Baker
Yeah, absolutely.
Jeremy Rains
Or if it’s not going to praise for that, do you want to know that that’s a possibility so that you can get prepared for whatever you might have to come out of pocket for or whatever your options are at that time?
Tony Ray Baker
Yeah, I totally agree. Number seven, problem solving skills. So something I’ve noticed in the last 28 years of helping clients buy homes is that there’s about 88 common types of things that can actually go wrong. And an experienced agent knows how to overcome these obstacles because they have great problem solving skills. We actually have these 88 things written down and we actually give them to clients so that they know, hey, if we run into one of these, we know how to handle it.
Jeremy Rains
Yeah, it’s a great multiple choice test, too.
Tony Ray Baker
Multiple choice. Take this quiz.
Jeremy Rains
Number eight is clear direction. Look, life is stressful and buying a house makes it even more stressful. And sometimes it’s hard to even know what you’re supposed to do. For me, it’s imperative that the agent that I’m working with isn’t afraid to give me absolute clear, concise direction on what I need to do next. Basically, tell me what’s my next step.
Tony Ray Baker
Right. I agree. Number nine was sympathetic gear. Or is sympathetic gear, and that’s for me, everything in life. I want a person who listens with empathy, has the wisdom to know where I am right now, and will respond with understanding and more importantly, with solutions. I expect the same from my real estate agent.
Jeremy Rains
Absolutely. And number ten is a choice and options when something goes wrong. One of those 88 things that you were talking about earlier, I want choices and options on how to resolve it so I can make the best decision for me.
Tony Ray Baker
Right. Number eleven is a skilled negotiator, and that’s super important. And this isn’t about haggling the best price. So I want an agent who listens and communicates with a win win mentality because at the end of the day, I want to buy the house. Right. And the seller’s concerns and my concerns as a buyer may not have anything to do with price. You and I have seen that happen over.
Jeremy Rains
Number twelve is professional input and Sage advice. This comes from the last eleven items that we discussed. I want an agent with the authenticity to tell me what I need to hear with brutal honesty, even when I don’t want to hear it.
Tony Ray Baker
Right. Number 13, character and integrity. And this is not something you can teach someone, so just think about it. You already know the people in your life, the ones that have great moral character and integrity. And why would you accept anything less than that in an agent? I know I won’t.
Jeremy Rains
Thank you for watching. I’m Jeremy reigns with Tony Ray Baker.
Tony Ray Baker
Group and I’m Tony Ray Baker and if you want to take a deeper dive into home buying process, we have a great 1 hour class. It’s on video. The link is below. You can grab that by also going to see Tucsonhomes.com. That’s our website. If you click on the buyer section, it’s really cool because we have a whole bunch of little short classes for you there as well on different subjects and if you want to call me, call me at 520-631-8669 that’s. If you need any information about housing in Southern Arizona, our team is here to help you and we’re with Remax Select and we hope you have a great day.
