Matthew Hick asked:


If you are in the market to sell your home, it is important to choose a real estate agent who will do his or her best job and provide the most excellent services to you. After all, you are looking for quality, honesty, timeliness, and dedication. So how do you go weeding out the good real estate agents from the bad real estate agents? There are a few ways that you can do this.

To start with, you will want to know how long the real estate agent has been in practice, and if their licensure is kept up to date. Several years of practice under their belt has given them a world of experience to make a good sale. Also, check what hours they work. If they don’t work nights or weekends, then this schedule will fail to accommodate most working people in the mindset to buy. A part-time realtor may not have the time to adequately market your property.

In the line of work experience, find out how many properties they have sold in the last year, and the average sale price of them. Ask them what percent of their listings have sold, and if they can provide you with references from homeowners, whose houses have sold, and those who haven’t. It is important to find an agent who is willing to disclose facts. If they are a good agent, they won’t have anything to hide. Find out how many current listings they have. The fewer the better for you, since an overloaded real estate agent won’t have the time to devote to your sale. If they have a full load already, this is the time to say goodbye.

Since advertising is key to selling your house, find out if they will commit to a certain amount of money spent each month to this area. An unadvertised house will be too unnoticeable to sell. Request a thirty or sixty-day contract agreement time. This will provide the realtor time to sell, but gives you an opportunity to move on if you are unhappy with them. If they refuse, by all means question why. You really don’t want to be locked into an agreement for years, only to find out the real estate agent is not a good one. Also find out if the property will be on the Multi Listing Service, and what their policies on open houses are. These are all key items in getting your house in the viewing area of potential buyers.

Question the real estate agent as to how long the property will take to sell at suggested price. Your house may be worth the amount advertised, but quite possibly the area will not get you that price. You need honesty in this matter. Most importantly, do not overprice your house. You may not get any potential buyers attention with this maneuver.

The real estate agent will be your home’s best opportunity to be sold. It is important to ask questions, and pay attention to detail, when making this selection. You need someone who is able to provide care, time and effort in selling your house. Remember, you are entrusting this individual to handle probably one of the biggest financial transactions of your life. Making the right choice could be the difference between that “SOLD” sign going up or not.



Holly

Jim Johnson asked:


Choosing a good real estate agent in Bend Oregon can be a sticky proposition. There are currently a little over two thousand members of the Central Oregon Multiple Listing service. Out of these two thousand members there are approximately 1,500 active real estate agents. The rest are part time agents, real estate appraisers, lenders or others associated with the real estate business.

Oregon law recently changed however and agents are now called Brokers and Principle Brokers. Brokers are men and women who sell real estate for a Principle Broker who is responsible for their activities. The Principle Broker can also sell and list properties. For the purposes of this article we will call Brokers and Principal Brokers who actively sell and list homes “Agents.”

When searching for an agent to assist you in buying or selling a home it is a good idea to choose one that is a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS). There are over one million Realtors in business today. So if you want to find that one-in-a-million Realtor start with the over 37,000 that hold the Certified Residential Specialist Designation. CRS is the symbol of excellence in residential real estate.

You should also make sure your agent is a Realtor. Not all agents are Realtors. A Realtor is pledged to adhere to a strict code of ethics. Whether you are buying or selling a home, you can count on your Realtor to be honest with all parties in the transaction, not just you, as his or here client, but also with the other real estate practitioner and his or her clients.

For example, if Realtors represent a buyer with a spotty credit history, they can’t be dishonest with seller about this fact. At the same time, Realtors can help their buyer clients collect and assemble information, such as credit reports and audited tax returns, to demonstrate that the buyer has addressed the problem and improved their situation.

He or she will put your interests ahead of his or her interest at all times. He understand the needs of his or her client, thoroughly researches available inventory and shares all relevant information with the buyer so that he or she can make an informed decision. This service is provided regardless of the compensation available.

She or He will disclose all pertinent facts regarding the property and the transaction to both buyer and seller. If a Realtor believes information provided by a seller is questionable, the Realtor is obligated to investigate. Realtors should recommend that buyers consult their own experts, such as home inspectors, to address concerns.

For example, if a home seller asks his or her Realtor to conceal the fact that the roof leaks, the Realtor cannot comply. If the seller insists, the Realtor should end the business relationship with that seller.

He or she will be truthful in all communications with the public. When Realtors distribute newsletters, create Web sites, or place advertisements, they must be careful not to represent other real estate professionals’ work product as their own. If recently sold or listed properties in the community are publicized, it must be clear whether the Realtor was actually involved in the transaction or whether that data came from the local multiple listing service or other source. This ensures that the public understands the Realtor’s experience and they can make an informed decision when choosing real estate representation.

All Certified Residential Specialists are Realtors. So if you are looking for an agent in Bend Oregon or any place in the United States for that matter, you can search the internet with any browser for Certified Residential Specialist. Go to “Find a CRS” and fill in the city and state where you want to buy a home and need an agent.

You will then have a list with pictures, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of some of the best agents available. At this point it is good to contact the agent and ask him or here how long he or she has lived in the area you are going to be buying a home. You will be better served if you choose someone that has lived in the area for more than twenty years.

There are many factors to consider when choosing the agent you want to work with. Take your time and be sure the broker you choose is some you like and trust.

It is a buyer’s market in Bend Oregon today. It is a good time to buy a home. If you follow the steps outlined in this article you should find an ethical, experienced profession to help you find you new home and negotiate a good price.



Alfred

Rick Hendershot asked:


Some estimates say that more than 60% of people looking to buy or sell real estate go to the internet first when they begin their search for real estate information. And as agents and brokers become more net-savvy, and more and more people get online, that number will only increase.

That means that the hottest sources of real estate prospects, leads, listings and sales is online. Which obviously means that if you are a Real Estate Agent, or if you provide a real estate service, you need an online presence.

** Establishing an online presence

Most people have no idea how to create an online presence. But the truth is, it is fairly straightforward, once you understand how the internet works.

It’s all about getting traffic to your website, and then having a website attractive enough to attract the attention, and get the responses of your website visitors.

** How do you get traffic?

There are two well established ways to get traffic to your website. Both of them involve the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN.

The first method is to run advertisements that target the buyers or sellers you want to reach. There is no better way to advertise than by using paid search advertising — what is called “pay-per-click” advertising.

The second method is to promote your website so it comes up high in searches. Most people begin their search for real estate information by typing a search term into their favorite search engine. The list of possible sources that the search engine gives you is called “natural” or “free” results. You place high in these searches by impressing the search engines with the importance of your site. When you come up in the first few spots in “free” searches, you are virtually guaranteed to get “free” traffic — because people will click on your link and be taken to your site.

** Pay-Per-Click Advertising

Most real estate agents are used to traditional advertising methods such as running ads in real estate publications. And they think it is necessary to pay between $250-$750 for one insertion that may or may not bring them any responses. That is the major problem with traditional advertising — it is expensive, and it gives you no guarantee of response.

But pay-per-click advertising is different. On the one hand it can be targeted to reach the precise target segment you want to reach — for instance, people looking for real estate in your town or city.

On the other hand, you only pay for “clicks” when someone who is potentially interested in your service clicks on your ad and visits your website. This is the revolutionary advertising concept that has made Google the hottest and most dominant player on the web.

But pay-per-click advertising can also be expensive and difficult to manage. Fortunately there are ways of establishing an online presence without paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month.

** Search engine marketing – Search Engine Optimization

As mentioned earlier, the other way to generate online traffic is to promote your site so it comes up high in organic or free searches. This is called “search engine marketing” and involves two important components.

First, it involves creating a website that makes it very clear who your prospective visitors might be. This process is called “search engine optimization”. You “optimize” your site to include as many references as possible to the subject matter you want to focus on, and the target market you want to reach.

For instance, if you are trying to reach potential home buyers in Sarasota, Florida, then you must make it clear that your site is about “real estate in Sarasota.” You must build as much content into your site about Sarasota as you can.

Since most online business people do not know the “tricks of the trade” when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), they hire an expert who does. Unfortunately there are no guarantees when it comes to search engine optimization. Even with sites that have been highly optimized there is no guarantee that the search engines will reward you with a high ranking. Nevertheless, it is an important exercise to go through, and is one of the foundations on which to build your search engine marketing.

** Search engine marketing – Linking

The other component of search engine marketing is to get lots of “inbound links” pointing to your site from other sites. An inbound link is a link on someone else’s site that makes a reference to yours.

Links give you two important sources of traffic. First, visitors to the sites where your links are found may actually click on those links and visit your site. This is especially the case if your links are on high traffic pages that are highly relevant to your service.

Second, inbound links impress the search engines. When the search engines find lots of links to your site in various places around the web, they interpret this as an indicator of the importance of your website. And that in turn results in the search engines rewarding you with higher rankings in free or organic searches.

Inevitably that results in traffic. And if your website is written to get results, traffic should convert to sales.

If all of this sounds a bit overwhelming, it is best not to simply throw up your hands in despair and concede all of those potential online customers to your net savvy colleagues. The fact is there are very inexpensive ways to cash in on all that online gold. You just have to keep looking until you find the right people to work with.



Fred

T J Madigan asked:


Whether you are buying a home or selling a home, you are most likely going to need the services of a real estate agent. Most people have seen movies and heard horror stories about pushy real estate agents that try to get you to buy a home you arent interested in or list your home for a price well above what its worth. The last thing you want is for the real estate agent you work with to be anything like the stereotypes.

A real estate agents success will tell you a lot about how he or she works. How many homes does that agent sell? An successful agent that sales many homes is usually easy to work with. When you are interviewing real estate agents you might find it helpful to ask for references. Of course, these references should have experiences relevant to the services you are looking for. If you are buying a home from the real estate agent, speaking to someone who has had a positive selling experience with the agent will not be of much help.

Choose an agent based on a referral you receive from someone you trust. When a friend or family member gives you the name of a real estate agent, there is a greater chance of you having a successful experience with the agent, than if you randomly choose one from the telephone book. Make sure the person who is referring the real estate to you has had a recent experience in working with the agent.

If you are a buyer working with a real estate agent, make sure to give the agent the details you are looking for in a home along with the maximum price you are willing to pay. Your agent should make every agent to show you homes that meet the criteria. There are some agents that will attempt to show you homes that are above your maximum price or do not meet your priority criteria. Usually this happens because the agent has some ulterior motive for selling the property. Respond to this situation the first time by asking that the real estate agent only show you homes that meet your criteria. If the agent continues to disrespect your wishes, you should move on to an agent that will abide by your requests.

Pushy real estate agents are fairly easy to recognize. You will notice that the agent does not truly seem interested in your needs or wants. The agents primary concern will be to sell you something. For buyers, the pushy agents will try whatever is necessary to get you to purchase a home that you arent interested in. These agents might express frustration when you do not make a swift enough decision to meet their satisfaction.

When working with a sellers agent, be wary of real estate agents that pressure you to make decisions before you are comfortable with working with them. A professional agent will assist you in making educated decisions based on facts. This kind of agent will even provide you with the information necessary. If you feel that a real estate agent does not have your best interests in mind, kindly thank them for their services, and enlist the services of another real estate professional.



Fernando

Michael Contaro asked:


You’ve lived in your house for 30 years and now it’s time to sell. Should you try to sell it on your own or do you get a realtor? Choosing a real estate agent will be one of the most important decisions you will make and it’s a decision that you should not rush into.

You should do your research before you sign on with any realtor. Selling your house is a major life altering decision. Too many house sellers call the first number they see on a lawn sign while driving around and use them. Others call the first number listed in the phone book. Just because a realtor is popular or begins with the letter “A” doesn’t mean they are right for you.

When choosing a realtor you may want to choose a company that has been in the business for many years. Chances are they would have past experience with selling a house similar to yours. This is the time to get references from people who have sold their homes recently. See if they had good experiences with a particular realtor and THEN do your homework to see if that particular realtor is right for you.

Another factor to consider is the level of education your Real Estate Agent has. In some states it is pretty easy to get a real estate license, in others like New Jersey, you must have approximately 60 hours of class time before you can site for your license exam. After you receive your license and choose a real estate agency to work from you still have to take refresher classes each year to keep your license in good order. Ask for credentials; check to see if your realtor or real estate agent has won any awards or has any advanced real estate licenses. For example some real estate agents also are appraisers or mortgage brokers. This shows they are in business for the long haul.

Ultimately, go with your gut feelings. If a possible realtor tells you that they can sell your house for much more than the appraised value, don’t trust him. He is wasting your time and you won’t have a happy selling experience. Each sale is important to you and the realtor. If you feel like you are just another sale it’s time for a new realtor.

A realtor can be a huge help when selling your house… or they can be major obstacle and create problems. Chose carefully. You and your money will be spending a lot of time with this person.



Arnold