How did you find a realtor?

[vc10um]

DH and I are finally starting the gears moving on our somewhat-cross-country relocation and so we need to find ourselves a great buyer's agent to assist us in our housing search (since we are about a 9 hour drive from where we'll be moving) and help us close the deal when we find the right (FIRST!) house. I have a college associate who is a real estate agent in the area we're looking, but I wouldn't feel comfortable with him being our agent. I am also friends with him on FB, so that prevents me from really being able to broadcast for suggestions that way because, well, all of our mutual friends will suggest him, I'm sure, purely by association. So now I need a new plan.

I have started combing reviews on Zillow...are there additional websites that allow people to "Rate Your Realtor" after the process of buying or selling? I have a friend or two that have bought/sold property in the area where we plan to move, so I will ask them as well, though I believe at least one of them used the college associate...soooo, back to square one!

Thanks in advance for any insight!

 

[iheartscience]

Can you email/private message a few of your friends in the area to ask for recommendations other than your college associate? When I bought my house I used someone I knew and I wish I hadn't, so I totally understand not wanting to use him. I do think personal recommendations are probably the best way to go for real estate agents, though.

Are you relocating with a company? Our seller's agents were recommended to us through my husband's relocation company and they were fantastic.

Or is there a big Yelp presence in the new area you're moving to? I have seen real estate agent reviews on Yelp.

 

[stephbolt]

We found ours by finding a listing we wanted to see online which she ended up being the seller's agent for. We didn't like that house but really hit it off with her.

Are you going to be in the area at all before you seriously get started on the househunting process? I'd suggest if you are, trying to hit a bunch of open houses and see if you connect well with any of the agents. I would be in the same boat as you with not wanting to use someone I already knew personally, so I hope you can find someone!

 

[Haven]

We found ours by finding a listing we wanted to see online which she ended up being the seller's agent for. We didn't like that house but really hit it off with her.

Are you going to be in the area at all before you seriously get started on the househunting process? I'd suggest if you are, trying to hit a bunch of open houses and see if you connect well with any of the agents. I would be in the same boat as you with not wanting to use someone I already knew personally, so I hope you can find someone!

This is how we found our real estate agent, as well. I think it's a great way to find someone, because you get to work with her a bit before you decide to take her on as your agent, and you can really get a feel for her approach.

The one drawback to this is that real estate agents have two very different, but equally important, functions--to help you *find* the right home, and to help you *get a contract* for the right home. I adored our agent when it came to spending very long house-hunting days with her, but when it came to negotiating for homes we had very different styles. We couldn't have anticipated this, of course, but it was interesting to experience.

That being said, we still thought she was fabulous and would use her to buy another home. Especially now that she knows how we operate when it comes to making offers.

DH found a different agent to sell his condo in the city, and ended up with a really wonderful guy. He first used an acquaintance, and she was terrible, so he ended that and found the man who ended up selling his condo through a referral from a friend of mine. I don't think it's a good idea to use a friend as a real estate agent, it's too hard to a) get objective references about his or her skills, and b) conduct a professional working relationship without weird feelings getting in the way. (DH really hemmed and hawed about ending the relationship with the first agent because they were acquaintances. It's harder than it sounds.)

 

[monarch64]

We used a friend of ours who has 18-19 years under his belt. It took us 9 months (I think) to find our house, but it was worth the wait. I wouldn't have gone with anyone else; everything worked out perfectly for us. That said, I do not normally recommend mixing friendship and business because if things do not go well business-wise, well, your friendship might be damaged, to say the least.

I would try to find someone with plenty of experience in the area in which you are searching for a home, who knows a lot of people including inspectors, contractors, builders, etc. Don't just go with someone who is a top seller; go with someone who is truly honest and cares about the deal AND the people involved.

 

[Clairitek]

My one useful observation from my own experience is that all three of our realtors were female and 45+ year old. They were all classy ladies who were well-spoken and had great manners. I felt really comfortable having them represent us to the buyer or seller.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Personally, if I were you, I'd just start housing hunting using all the various web searches and then call agents who sell houses similar to ones you like and possibly find one who will represent you as a buyers agent.

For us, we had the same realtor for three homes we've owned and he is a friend of ours. Same age, hang out together, etc. The deal for us was different though as we wanted to do the searching entirely on our own and had access to the realtor MSL site and could look up the details of every home and its history. Our realtor/friend just waited for our call when we found houses we were interested in. We liked it that way... Before having him help us, we had 'hired' a realtor and she kept calling with houses we didn't like at all and it was a huge waste of time!

We rent now and we did all the leg work ourselves and when we found the house we liked, we called the realtor and she took it from there.

 

[iLander]

Ask your friends to suggest 3 realtors. You might get the college associate as one, but the other 2 might be worth a shot.

 

[Missy]

We started looking for homes on our own. During our bike rides we would see various homes that interested us and we passed by one that was having an open house at that very time. The realtor who was showing that house offered to stay outside and watch our tandem and after we checked out the house we chatted with her and we just clicked. And while that house was not the house for us she became our broker and ended up being the realtor with whom we sold our former home and bought our current home (both closings the same day). Don't limit yourself to just one broker at first.

It's critical that you click with the broker and that's why I suggest looking at first on your own and meeting different brokers at each house you look at and going from there. This is an exciting time for you and I wish you lots of good luck and I hope you have fun too!!

 

[Amys Bling]

We met our realtor at an open house in the area we were looking to buy in. We loved her right from the start!

 

[zoebartlett]

Before a move to another state once, we took a trip down there and went to the Chamber of Commerce to get brochures of things to do, etc. We asked them to give us any information they could about relocation services. They gave us a few Realtor cards and information about Realtors in the area. That helped us find the one to use when we needed help looking for a place to live a couple of months later.

Another thing I'd suggest is if there's a specific company you like in your area (Coldwell Banker, for example), you could call them and see if they have any recommendations for who to contact in your new state. You never know, someone in a local office might have contacts in your new area.

 

[vc10um]

Thank you for all the suggestions, everyone! We did stop in a couple of open houses the last time we were in our new area, but the realtors at those open houses were...not people I'd want to work with. The lady at the first house was flighty, and the guy at the second house was smarmy. So at least we know they're O-U-T.

I will continue to ask around and peruse any kind of ratings I can find...hopefully we can find someone who suits our needs!

Zoe, that's also a great idea about people at the local branches of the large real estate companies here having references for people in our new area. Perhaps I'll spend this weekend doing some Open Houses around HERE and see if I can make some connections...

ETA: T2, we'll be taking care of relocation ourselves...sadly the government won't foot the bill. This is a self-motivated move (we can both work purely from home anywhere in the lower 48 with internet access) so no relocation package.

 

[iheartscience]

Thank you for all the suggestions, everyone! We did stop in a couple of open houses the last time we were in our new area, but the realtors at those open houses were...not people I'd want to work with. The lady at the first house was flighty, and the guy at the second house was smarmy. So at least we know they're O-U-T.

I will continue to ask around and peruse any kind of ratings I can find...hopefully we can find someone who suits our needs!

Zoe, that's also a great idea about people at the local branches of the large real estate companies here having references for people in our new area. Perhaps I'll spend this weekend doing some Open Houses around HERE and see if I can make some connections...

ETA: T2, we'll be taking care of relocation ourselves...sadly the government won't foot the bill. This is a self-motivated move (we can both work purely from home anywhere in the lower 48 with internet access) so no relocation package.

Gotcha! Hmmm...do you know of a specific neighborhood you'd like to buy in in the new area? In the area I live in there is one real estate company that has almost all of the good listings. Maybe you could check out the listings in the area and see which company seems to get the best listings and then interview 3 agents from that company and pick your favorite?

 

[tuffyluvr]

Yeah--don't use a friend! We used a friend at first--we were just buying, not listing. And it got super awkward. We felt pressured and almost bought a place that was more expensive than we wanted. His broker was pushing us to buy, and kept saying things like, "you can afford it... You were approved for a higher loan..." DF ended up hurting his feelings, which really sucked, but not as much as paying more than we were comfortable with!

We ended up finding a realtor thru FI's sister--it was one her friend's mom's friends. Close enough that we knew she was trustworthy, but far enough removed that we didn't feel awkward or bad about telling her exactly what we wanted.