One of the largest financial decisions you will ever have to make is the buying or selling of a home.
Surprisingly, few people give finding the right real estate agent as much thought as it deserves. More
often than not an agent is chosen because of the recommendation from a friend or relative or from
seeing an ad in the local newspaper. Taking time to perform a thorough investigation in order to select
the right agent who will meet your needs can save you a great deal of aggravation and effort in the
process of finding a new home or selling your home quickly. Here are five things to remember when
selecting such an agent:

1. Remember to ask someone you know that has recently SOLD!

- Experience is the best teacher, and choosing a real estate agent is no exception, ask a family member, friend or a neighbor that’s recently sold, this way you can get firsthand feedback about how their agent performed in this time.

2. Don’t go with the agent that quotes you the highest selling price

- Don’t assume that the agent giving you the highest selling price is the one to trust. Remember, each agent you approach is in competition with the next agent you interview. Most agents have the FEAR of loosing your business and tend to over quote it to win your business.

3. Compare Costs

- You can bet that the agent with the lowest service fee will cost you money throughout the sale of your home. Not only will you not get the service you deserve, but can the cheapest agent really negotiate the highest price for your home. “REMEMBER YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE AT SELLING YOUR NUMBER ONE ASSEST”

4. Be comfortable with the Agent

- Go with the one that you feel most comfortable with. It’s simple if you don’t get a good vibe from the agent your going to select how are the buyers going to feel when dealing with this agent. Most importantly your relationship with the agent must be open and honest to achieve the highest possible price, and must be a team effort between both client and agent. “Ask yourself would you buy a property from this agent”?.

5. Boutique Vs Brand Name

- Choosing a brand name real estate is not your only option. Boutique real estate offices need to work even harder than the Franchise Offices because they don’t have a head office support base and normally the owner themselves is the one who is servicing the clients. It is vital that every client is successfully serviced and that a long term relationship has been met as much of their business is repetitive. The owner and operator of a boutique office is most likely someone who has worked for a number of large franchises with the ambition to provide the highest quality service to their clients. The decision to open a boutique office takes a lot of hard work, initiative, guts and many past happy clients.

OMAR AYAD
DIRECTOR
EDGE PROPERTY PARTNERS
61-63 Scott Street, Liverpool
(02) 9821-2411