How to Choose a Realtor

family with sold sign outside new home

Buying a home in this pandemic era-sellers market can feel stressful and close to impossible. Even as a seller it is important to have the right experienced realtor by your side through the process to ensure you’re not putting yourself at risk. My journey as a first time home buyer was an eye-opener to the real estate market, the good, bad and ugly. Read on to learn my tips for how to choose a realtor that fits your family best.

While pregnant, my husband and I began our first-time home buyer search in February 2020. Of course we had no idea of the chaos lurking around the corner. Fortunately I had my mom, a real estate broker, guiding us through the process. Not to mention the added pressure of knowing our first home would be our forever home. We encountered our share of declined offers, despite being over asking price, while competing with investors and cash buyers.

Whether your network includes real estate professionals or you are starting from ground zero, it is important to know how to choose the right agent for you and your needs.

A simple internet search will tell you choosing the right agent is based on referrals, their experience and licensure. These are all important considerations when finding the person to help you navigate one of the biggest investments of your life. Finding the right realtor is more than just finding someone backed by a big-name brokerage. It is also important to know how your realtor operates and if they can be a true advocate for you.

As recent social events continue to bring light the inequities in our society, knowing who is representing you requires a little more research. Especially when media coverage has exposed the ongoing struggles facing BIPOC buyers and sellers. Finding your dream home in this market is hard enough without having someone’s unconscious biases operating against you.

I put together a few tips on how to choose a relator in hopes it will make your journey a little more enjoyable, because this is supposed to be happy time, right?

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Get Social

Follow local real estate agents you are considering doing business with on social media. See if they are an advocate for clients like you. When you’re battling dozens and dozens of other buyers, the last thing you want to do is second guess if your realtor has your best interest at heart. It’s a tough market that is felt by even the best of realtors who may see clients out-bid and discouraged house after house.

Check to see how the agent is educating their network to win in this market. The best realtors are genuinely invested in their clients. Understanding that there may be some systems stacked against them, yet doing all they can to prepare their clients to overcome barriers. Do they make an effort to empower and educate buyers/sellers who have been historically marginalized and excluded from real estate opportunities? If so, that is who you want guiding you through the process with expertise and compassion.

Check Licensure

All real estate agents are not Realtors, members of the National Association of Realtors.
As members, there is a code of ethics they must abide by which goes one step above the typical agent and providing peace of mind for both buyers and sellers.

Even still today, research is showing the high asking prices coupled with rising mortgage rates are disproportionately impacting BIPOC homeowners, buyers, and sellers. When your realtor is keen to the systems in place they are more in-tuned with opportunities or partnerships that can help combat inequalities to give you a level playing field. For example, does your agent have contacts with mortgage lenders that specialize in services like the FHA 203(K) loan for home renovations? Or are they connected with local lenders committed to helping clients who aren’t paying in cash or have a 20 percent down payment saved?

Trust Your Gut

You have the right to terminate your contract if you feel the realtor is not the right fit, unless of course you’re already under contract on a property.

It is possible the things we accept as status quo in life are rooted in inequities. At the early stages of our home search we switched mortgage lenders and the type of loan we pursued. We encountered so many homes that would not consider an offer if it wasn’t at least a conventional loan or cash. I learned this also excludes a large portion of BIPOC buyers who are more likely to have an FHA loan.

I’ve heard the argument that FHA loans aren’t favorable because they take longer to process as government backed versus a private loan, but that still doesn’t sit right with me. Anyone who doesn’t recognize the disproportionate impact this has on a Black buyers like myself is not who I’d like to represent me in this process.

When choosing a realtor home buyers and sellers must do their homework. Top performers in a brokerage are great, but are they cutting corners that put their clients at risk? Are they driven by client advocacy or their commission? Choose someone who operates with integrity every step of the way.

One nugget of advice my mom gave that continues to stick with me is: what’s meant for you will be for you. I’m a millennial who appreciates instant gratification so these words of wisdom were extremely hard to live by. After a long one and a half years of searching, my husband and I found our perfect home! It checked everything on our wish list.

Knowing when to walk away, and who is in your corner, can help you avoid feelings of buyers remorse.

Tiffany Hamlett
Tiffany Hamlett is a boy mom, wife and adventurous homebody navigating the balance of parenting, working and entrepreneurship. As former Kansas City Chiefs Cheerleader, Tiffany is passionate about empowering the youth through dance. She founded Tiffany’s Dance Academy which offers affordable classes in her hometown of Grandview, MO. Professionally Tiffany has over 10 years of experience in corporate communications, elevating brands through storytelling. She received her B.A. from California State University-Sacramento, with a dance minor. Outside of the office and dance studio her time is filled with fun toddler activities with her 1-year-old and 4-year-old. She is a Gryffindor who enjoys watching Real Housewives of anywhere during her limited “me time”.

1 COMMENT

  1. Really nice outlook on the home search journey, very motivational for those still in the process or soon to be searching for the first time.

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