7 Qualities That Determine A Top Realtor

In today's real estate market, it's more critical than ever before to find a top-notch real estate agent. A top realtor has the ability to sift through thousands of listings to find you the best house at the best price-or if you're the seller, the savvy, motivation and marketing ability to get your home a good price even in a buyer's market.

There are a lot of things that an agent needs to be considered a top realtor. When you need the best, take the time to ask your real estate agent -- or even better, his boss if he has one -- these questions:

1. Are you a member of the local, state, and national Association of Realtors?

The advantages of membership in the Realtors' association are too numerous to lay out here, but suffice to say you can't really be a top realtor without being a member.

2. Do you know MY neighborhood?

To a degree, a top realtor can operate almost anywhere -- but they'll almost always do better in an area they're intimately familiar with. Zoning regulations, recent sales, local economy, school zones -- there's a lot of information that affects the value of a home, and having an agent that knows it by heart is a great thing.

3. How long have you been doing this?

Also, how many transactions have you completed? You want the first number to be at least a couple years and the second number to be at least one per month they've been in business. Also, make sure they're full-time agents; you don't want a part-timer working on what could be the most important transaction of your life.

4. Are you available? If your real estate agent doesn't return your calls for days at a time, goes out of town without warning, or is otherwise unavailable when developments occur, you can lose out on valuable opportunities.

5. What specific designations do you have?

There are dozens of specific designations that a real estate agent can acquire. GRI, ePRO, CRS -- the list goes on and on. Even if none of them apply directly to this particular transaction, the fact that your agent is pursuing his field in depth tells you a lot about where his heart is.

6. What connections to you bring to the table?

A top realtor has a support team that includes appraisers, inspectors, escrow officers, lenders, etc. Ask for names just to make sure he can rattle them off the top of his head.

7. How tech savvy are you?

Top realtors know that 80% of the real estate game is online these days. If your agent isn't keeping in touch via email and can't tell you a dozen places that he can list your home online offhand, consider another agent.

Top realtors are hard to find -- don't expect the first agent you talk with to have the right answers to all of these questions. Be persistent. If you have doubts about what they're telling you, ask for the number of the real estate broker they work for, and don't hesitate to call the brokerage directly. When you're dealing with something as important as a real estate transaction, you can't be too finding top realtor out of the crowd.


Copyright (c) 2011 Don Dowd