Tips on How To Find a Good Real Estate Agent

It’s no secret that buying a new home, or selling your home, is often among the largest financial transactions you’ll make in your lifetime. Unless you’re buying luxury cars, not even a new vehicle can compare to the purchase or sale of a home.

That’s why it’s so important to make sure that you have the absolute best team of professionals assembled to help you along your buying or selling journey. A few essential people will play a pivotal role in your real estate transaction: a lender, a realtor or real estate agent, the buyers, the sellers, and their respective parties. 

We will always encourage you to do your own research on this, but we wanted to help you along the way so we put together a few easy tips on how to find a good real estate agent. 

1) Get Pre-Approved, Find a Lender, or Get a Home Valuation or Appraisal

The most important thing in your house search is to get pre-approved before anything else. This process involves you working with a lender to establish the size of the loan you qualify for. They will consider multiple things, including the value of total assets, recent paystubs, and a debt/income ratio. All of these things will help your lender pre-approve you for a maximum loan amount, which will then translate into the top of your budget. It’s important to do this first because you certainly don’t want to get your hopes up looking at a dream home that you can’t afford. Your lender will most likely also have a great referral network that they can tap into to try and find you the best real estate agent!

If you are selling your home, it’s a good idea to get a home valuation or appraisal done, as well as research similar property sales in your area. That way you have a better sense of what price you should list your home for. The good news is that in this wild Colorado real estate market, the chances of you getting over the asking price, or being able to price slightly higher than an appraisal, are pretty good. 

2) Speak to your network

One of the most common ways to find a good real estate agent is by tapping into your readily available network! That can be your friends, family, co-workers, current neighbors, or a professional that you trust. Given the size of this transaction, you want to make sure that you are in the best hands, and those are often found through the people that you already trust. Don’t be afraid to ask around, some of your “people” might be willing to share a lot of useful information from a buyer or seller perspective. We think it’s a good idea to create a list of potential agents that sound like they could be a good fit, and then start to narrow down your options from there. 

3) Research and Interview Candidates

While you are trying to find a good real estate agent, it’s important to make sure that you start with options. Even if you love the first person you meet with, we strongly encourage you to speak with at least two agents before deciding who will represent you. After all, you have to trust this person with one of the largest purchases or sales you’ll ever make. There’s an age-old saying, “Trust but verify, ” which holds true when deciding on a realtor or real estate agent. If you are looking for an extremely personalized experience with an experienced and involved agent, then contact us today so we can help you buy a home or sell your current property. 

4) Have a List of Questions Ready

It’s a great idea to have a list of questions ready for your potential agent! These can range from, “are you familiar with first-time homebuyers?” to “How many properties have you listed in this area?” and anything in between. Being comfortable, open, and honest is critical when forming these relationships – you need to be transparent about your budget, expectations, wants, and needs and your agent needs to be transparent and their expertise, availability, terms, and conditions, etc. Sharing this information upfront can create a more seamless transition into the actual property search or sale process. You’ll also want to make sure that you have answers to some of their questions, like what type of property you want or how much money you are hoping to get from the sale of your current home. As we’ve mentioned, this process is significant in a lot of ways and it’s important to start prepared and stay prepared. 

5) Trust Your Instincts 

At the end of the day, this is YOUR real estate journey, and no matter whether you are buying a home or selling one, you should always feel comfortable with whoever will be representing you for it. No one knows you better than you, so trust your gut and follow your instincts – they’re right more often than not. If someone is moving at a pace that makes you uncomfortable, you are allowed to voice that or make an appropriate pivot. The bottom line is that you need to trust yourself and your representative in order to have the smoothest real estate journey!

We hope this helps you as you try to find a good real estate agent in Denver or Colorado. If you are ready to start the buying or selling process and are looking for someone who will help you every step of the way, then reach out to us so we can start the conversation.