Aurora Ontario Real Estate - Selecting a Realtor®

The Realtor® brings the market to you. The market brings your price. The right realtor is one who knows the market and can facilitate the best possible price - not the one who promises you the highest price just to get you to list with them!

Many of the same questions, hesitations and strategies, connected with seeking out professional assistance in any field - whether looking for a doctor, dentist, lawyer or accountant - come into play when you are selecting a Realtor®. Some people find a Realtor® through a family member or friend. This is often a reliable approach, but you might not always find the most compatible assistance this way. And in a transaction as important, and intensive, as selling and buying a home, that can be critical.

A referral from a family member or friend doesn't guarantee a perfect match. Just think of something as simple as a movie or restaurant recommendation. Your close friends rave about a new Chinese food emporium downtown - so you check it out. Could this possibly the same restaurant they were describing? Mediocre service, no chopsticks, bland flavours! It's the same restaurant, same cook, same waitors.......... just different perceptions.

Regardless how you get a Realtor's® name, it might be worth interviewing at least a couple before you make your final decision - or at least arming yourself with some criteria to go over with any Realtor® who has been recommended to you.

A few things to look for:
If you're looking for a Realtor® to sell your home, be wary of anyone who suggests that they can get an unreasonably high price. A Realtor® might use a high listing price to secure a contract, only to seek a lower price later, after little traffic is generated at the initial price level. Meanwhile, you've lost what can be the most critical time period in selling a home - the first few weeks immediately after it is listed.

Check on experience and productivity. As with most professions, experience pays in real estate. Experienced Realtors® know the market and the marketing process. They'll have the best chance of quickly and smoothly helping you sell your home. The number of transactions a Realtor® is handling monthly or yearly is going to give you an indication of how committed the Realtor® is to the profession. Is the Realtor® a part-timer who's just dabbling in real estate sales - or is the Realtor® a full-time professional whose livlihood depends entirely on an ability to successfully and repeatedly close real estate transactions?

Is the Realtor® part of a national network? This can be especially important if you are selling in one city in preparation to move to another. Your selling Realtor® can refer you to a professional, compatible Realtor® in your destination city - keeping in close contact with that Realtor® so both your selling and buying efforts are closely coordinated.

One final point - Does the Realtor® seem primarily interested in sharing experience and market knowledge in an honest and straightforward manner? Or does the Realtor® seem more interested in telling you what you want to hear - or spend a lot of effort trying to market additional products or services? The worts time to secure the services of a "yes-man/woman", or a Realtor® who seems to have a bit too many irons in the fire, is when you're entering into a transaction involving something as expensive as your home. You need straightforward, reliable information - even if it's not necessarily flattering regarding the home that you want to sell.

	Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye. - Helen Keller
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