Should you interview several real estate agents when selecting a buyer's agent
Most homeowners who are considering selling their home in Charleston interview several agents to list their home. Many will go with the Realtor who suggests the highest price and / or the lowest commission rate and neither is really the best way to select an agent but it happens.
On the other hand, buyers generally focus more on finding homes instead of finding a real estate agent to help them buy but just recently I met several potential clients who wanted to interview several agents before looking at homes.
In my opinion, that's a very smart thing to do. Here's why.
Most professional Charleston real estate agents want to meet with potential clients before showing homes for several reasons. First of all, they want to make sure the client is both serious and qualified to buy a home. Secondly, they want to know if their expectations are realistic.
But most of all, both parties should agree that there is a good fit and that they would like to work together.
The buyers should interview several agents to make sure that the agent is ethical, hardworking and has the experience and expertise to help them. The agent should be not only knowledgeable about the area and market in general but also be able to successfully guide the transaction from contract to closing smoothly and successfully.
I mentioned that several potential clients recently interviewed me but here's the funny thing. One didn't tell me that they had interviewed several other agents until after we looked at and wrote a contract on a home. But upon looking back on our first meeting, it was most definitely an interview and as Sally Field once famously said, "You like me, you really like me".