When buying a home, your search should start with a REALTOR®. In reality today everybody starts off their home search by looking online on websites like Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, and so on. There is nothing wrong with this, but your first step is to hire a REALTOR®.
Why?
Doing your own searching online can take a SUBSTANTIAL amount of time. A REALTOR® can look up all the real time and most up to date market information. Not to mention if you are buying with an FHA or Conventional mortgage certain homes on the market can’t be purchased with this type of financing. A REALTOR® can set you up for auto search via the Homesnap. What this means is that each day (or how often you want to receive the search results) you’ll be emailed a list of all new properties matching your criteria or price reductions which now put a property in your budget. This is a time saver. And in our Chicago market where great properties sell in a matter of days, it is an enormous advantage to be able to get in and to see a property within a day or two of it going on the market. Priced right any home sells in the first 3-10 days.
Back to finding a REALTOR®. How do you pick a REALTOR®? I always advise to interview at least 3 (if you will be doing some interviewing). Hopefully you’ll contact my team at 708-860-0346 or sammy(at)sellchicago(dot)com so we can meet in person and see if we would be a good fit. Why is it important to make sure we are a good fit? Well, not all REALTORS® are right for all people. You need someone who is great at their job, but also someone you like, since you will be working with them throughout the process. You will need to determine if the REALTOR® has the experience, customer service and understanding of the market that you are looking for. Consider starting by noticing how soon the REALTOR® responds to your initial email or call. If the REALTOR® can’t get back to you within 24 hours, what does that say to you? Real Estate moves fast and deals are lost when your REALTOR® doesn’t respond quickly on your behalf.
Want to know what questions to ask a REALTOR® during the interview? This will be a later blog post attached link here (If you would like the list now email me at sammy@sellchicago.net)
If you have any questions, please reach out.
