Buying A Home, Selling A Home

Probably the most important quality your real estate agent must have is being a full-time Realtor.  Ask your agent if they have another job.  You want to know that when you call your agent he or she can devote their full attention to you.  You do not want to hear "Can I call you back in a minute?"", knowing that it will be hours before you hear from them.  This can be crucial when negotiating a contract.  If the buyer's agent doesn't stay on top of things, the seller can be looking at another contract that came in while the first buyer was waiting to hear back from his Realtor.  So, the buyer could very well lose the house he or she fell in love with.

You will want to have a home inspection and perhaps other inspections such as radon, lead paint, etc.  You will want your agent to be able to attend the inspections, especially if by some chance, you cannot.  Your agent must talk with you and your attorney about what you want to do about any issues that come up in the inspections and this has to be done in a certain time-frame otherwise you will have no recourse as far as having any repairs, etc., done to the home.

Another reason that you want a full-time Realtor is that whether buying or selling, there is going to be a lot of communication going on with your attorney by phone and fax and they usually work from 9-5, Mondays through Friday.

Before hiring a Realtor, ask for some testimonials.  This will give you a great deal of information about the Realtor, how hard they work, what they know about negotiating and will they go above and beyond to ensure that you have a successful sale or purchase of a home.  If you have any questions, please give me a call at 630-664-9472 or e-mail: mariannehofmann@att.net.  I'd love to hear from you!