Vancouver Real Estate Services
 Olga Lassu
Bachelor of Economics - REALTOR®
 
 
Olga Lassu
Cell:(604) 780-1102
Fax:(604) 408-6648
Royal LePage City Centre
#204 - 345 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC
V6B 6B3 Canada
Working With a Real Estate Agent

  Selecting a Real Estate Agent

When buying or selling a home, one of the biggest decisions that you will make is deciding on a real estate agent. After all, this is a decision that you want to get right. If you strike up a relationship with a qualified and trustworthy agent, it is safe to say that you will be on the right track to success. On the other side of things, an agent who is only interested in the money could cause more bad than good.

  Three Questions to Ask Your Realtor

Are you thinking about hiring a real estate agent? If so, you are on the brink of making a very good decision. This holds true no matter if you are hiring an agent to sell your home, or if you are in the market for a new property. Either way, asking specific questions of potential real estate agents will give you a feel for what you are getting into.

  Benefits of Hiring a Real Estate Agent

Are you contemplating hiring a real estate agent? If so, the pros and cons of doing so are probably weighing on your mind. The fact of the matter is that there are benefits of having an agent on your side, but at the same time there are drawbacks that you may also want to concern yourself with.

  Real Estate Agents and Buying a Home

Did you know that many real estate agents spend just as much time with home buyers as home sellers? This is something that a lot of consumers are not aware of. The reason for this is that you can purchase a home without the help of an agent. But with the competition and details that need to be taken care of in today’s day and age, getting help from an agent is almost necessary.

  Real Estate Agents and Selling a Home

As you probably know, selling a home can be a long and sometime stressful process. While some sellers get lucky and find a buyer within a matter of days, this is far from being the status quo. The fact of the matter is that most homes sit on the market for a month or longer. Are you going to be able to handle everything that comes along by yourself? If not, you need to look into hiring one of the many real estate agents that are surely doing business in your area. As you can imagine, getting the assistance of an agent is often times much easier than working on your own.

  Remember that Real Estate Agents are Professionals

For many people, hiring a real estate agent is a tough decision. After all, when you do this you are going to have to give up some of the control. If you are buying a home, your real estate agent will be in charge of finding properties that suit your needs, scheduling appointments, and then showing you what you want to see. On the other side of things, selling a home is even more complex. This is when you will give up complete control, and in turn trust that your real estate agent will get everything done with a high degree of success.

  Real Estate Agents Know the Market

There is one very important reason that you may want to consider hiring a real estate agent. Do you know what that may be? Simply put, agents know the market in which you are interested in buying or selling; it does not get any simpler than that. When you work on your own you will only be able to see what is on the surface. But with the help of a real estate agent you will have the chance to rely on their experience and market knowledge.

  Having a Real Estate Agent on Your Side

The benefits of hiring a real estate agent to work on your behalf are varied. This holds true if you are selling a home, as well as if you are buying. Gone are the days that hiring an agent were only for sellers. The majority of home buyers in today’s day and age are also using agents as a way to find the best properties, and of course, get the best deal on price.

  Make the Most of Your Relationship

Are you going to hire a real estate agent to help you buy or sell a property? If so, you need to keep one thing in mind: the relationship that you have with your agent is very important. If you do not keep a good relationship it is going to be very difficult to work in a manner that is beneficial to both parties.

  Little Known Benefits of Hiring a Real Estate Agent

There are many obvious benefits that go along with hiring a real estate agent. But with that being said, there are some smaller ones that you may want to become familiar with as well. The fact of the matter is that hiring an agent is what most people do when they are buying or selling a home. But guess what? The majority of these people hire an agent because that is what everybody else is doing. It does not have anything to do with the benefits that they will receive.

  How Real Estate Agents Find Homes

Are you thinking about hiring a real estate agent to help you find a home? If so, you are not alone with this. While you can shop on your own, you more or less need an agent on your side to get the most out of the buying process. Before you think about anything else, most agents will not charge you if you are buying a home. They will instead split the commission with the selling agent. As you can see, this more or less means that you will be getting free help; and who wouldn’t want to take advantage of that?

  Communicating with Your Real Estate Agent

Keeping an open, honest, and steady line of communications with your real estate agent is essential to overall success. This holds true if you are buying a home, selling a home, or working with an agent in any other capacity. The fact of the matter is that you cannot have a solid business relationship with anybody if you are not willing to communicate. Luckily, there are plenty of ways that you can ensure that communication is never your downfall.

  The Difficulties of Not Hiring an Agent

Is not hiring a real estate agent a mistake? Well, this is a question that you have to answer on your own. For most people, hiring an agent is never a question in their mind. They know that this is the best way to go, and in turn they never hesitate when it is time to get started. But of course, there are those people who always want to go against the norm. They are the ones who think that working on their own is better than hiring an agent.

  How much do you pay a Real Estate Agent when Selling?

Working with a real estate agent offers many benefits. The only drawback is that you will have to pay them when selling your home. In other words, they will take a cut of the selling price of your home. This is the number one reason that some people decide to sell their home by owner. They want to keep all of the profits for themselves, and this is perfectly understandable. But with that being said, you need to keep in mind that the small fee you will have to pay is usually well worth it. After all, an agent does a lot of work for the money that they make.

  How much do you pay a Real Estate Agent when Buying?

Buying a home is much different than selling one. When you are a seller, hiring a real estate agent means that they will be getting a cut of your profits when everything is said and done. But if you are a buyer, this situation is not nearly the same. In most cases, buyers who hire real estate agents never pay them a dime. Instead, the agent will set up a deal with the seller’s agent in which they split the commission; this is more or less a fee for bringing the buyer to the seller.

  Your Real Estate Agent and an Open House

One of the best ways to sell your home is through a marketing tool known as an open house. This is when you allow anybody who is interested to see your home during a specified time period. For instance, most open houses are held on Sundays between the hours of 1 and 4. Of course, this is not set in stone and your agent will work with you to determine what is best.

  How an Agent will Market Your Home

The ways in which a real estate agent markets your home to potential buyers is very important. After all, these marketing techniques are what will make or break the sale of your property. If your agent is not putting their best foot forward in the marketing department it will show because your home will more than likely sit stagnant for months on end. Before you ever hire a real estate agent you should ask them about their plans as far as marketing is concerned.

  Is Your Agent Familiar with Your Area?

When hiring a real estate agent you want to find one that is familiar with the area in which you are buying or selling. In other words, if you want to buy a home on the east side of a city you should find an agent that specializes in the area. This is not something that you necessarily have to do, but it is a very good idea. After all, it will improve your chances of success.

  Letting Your Real Estate Agent Take Control

If you are going to hire a real estate agent you need to learn how to give up some control. One of the main reasons that some people buy or sell without an agent is that they are afraid of losing control. You need to make sure that this is not going to be a problem for you. The fact of the matter is that surrendering some level of control to your real estate agent is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, this is a good thing depending on the way that you look at it.

  Real Estate Agents, Buying a Home and Negotiating

There is one very important area in which a real estate agent can help you immensely; negotiating. If you have never purchased a home before, you will definitely want an agent working with you during the negotiations. This will help to ensure that you do not overpay, and that you get a fair shake of the stick. In fact, even if you have purchased a home before it is still a good idea to have an agent helping you with the negotiations. The bottom line is that there are details that will come up that you have never dealt with before.

  Your Agent and the Asking Price

Are you selling your home? If so, one of the most important decisions you must make is the asking price. If you ask too much for your home you will never get anybody to take you seriously. But if you decide that you are going to set your asking price low, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table that could have been yours. For this reason, setting the asking price of your home can be a difficult task to say the least.

  Will Your Agent Negotiate with Success?

When you hire a real estate agent you are probably dreaming that he or she will help you to sell your home in no time at all. When it comes down to it, there are not too many things more frustrating than getting stuck with a home that you do not want. In fact, some people cannot move onto their new home until they sell the one that they are currently in. For this reason, hiring a real estate agent that will negotiate with success is very important. After all, you do not want them to blow a deal for you.