The best way to find your first home is to work with a great realtor. You can’t work with just anyone, though—you need a realtor who is going to be the perfect fit for your needs. Below are a few of the steps you can take to ensure that you find the right realtor to help you buy your first home.
Talk to Friends and Family
One of the best ways to find a good realtor is to talk to other people who have bought homes. Don’t be shy about talking to your family and friends about their own homebuying processes. Not only are you likely to get a lot of advice, but many people will be happy to recommend their realtors to you at the same time. A personal recommendation can mean quite a bit when you’re looking for the perfect realtor, so seek them out.
Look Online
If you can’t get a personal recommendation, it’s time to go online to look at realtors who are in your area. A quick search on your favorite search engine will turn up plenty of names. Once you locate a few, start looking at reviews. Though reviews on the internet are not always accurate, seeing a number of good or bad reviews can reveal quite a bit about a potential realtor.
Check Referral Sites
Your next step is to send out your information. There are plenty of local sites that you can use to announce that you’re looking for a realtor. Some sites that are building new homes might even have a link to referral pages, which you can then use to find someone who fits your needs. This has the added benefit of allowing you to sit back and let the realtors find you. Be warned, though—you’ll still need to do due diligence to find out if they’re a good fit for your needs.
Meet with Realtors
Your final step is to meet with realtors in person. While reading emails and checking out reviews can be helpful, you ultimately need to meet with a realtor to determine what he or she can do for you. Most realtors are happy to meet with prospective clients to discuss things like fees, their most recent sales, and how they work. If you feel like you’ve made a good connection during your meeting, you’ve likely found a realtor who can help you.
Don’t work with the first realtor you find on a quick Google search. Put in some effort to ensure that you find someone who meets your needs. If you can find the right realtor, you’ll often find that your search for a new home will be much more fruitful.
