How To Find a Buyer’s Agent You Can Trust

In real estate, there are two main types of agents. One represents the seller, and the other represents the buyer. Depending on your needs, it’s important to find a knowledgeable, helpful realtor who can assist you with all your real estate needs. When you do a quick search, you might find hundreds of real estate agents in your region. This makes it challenging to know where to start. If you blindly pick one, you could end up with many headaches in the home buying process.

Finding a buyer’s agent you can trust is just as important as finding a great home. The difference is always in the details, and you need an agent who will work on your behalf to help you find a home that meets your needs. And this starts with trust. People work with those they know, like, and trust, so you can begin your search for a trustworthy buyer’s agent by asking people you know.

Ask Friends for Referrals

Do you have a friend who recently purchased a home in your area? Ask them who they used. Take the time to ask them questions about the process. Did their agent suggest homes that were a good fit? Were they responsive to questions? Did they help them negotiate the best price? Were they knowledgeable about the neighborhoods that they showed homes in? The answers to these questions can help you decide if this agent is someone you would also like to work with.

Check Your Network

You never know who is hanging out in your professional network who does real estate. You may have met someone or interacted with someone in a different capacity without realizing they sold homes and could help you buy a new house. Your professional channels can be a great source of connections to a buyer’s agent. Ask through your networking groups, at work, and even in your online networks to see who you can find. It’s essential to find people who are good at helping others get into a new home and have reliable character, and haven’t left people in the dust in the past.

Do Online Searches

When you’re trying to find a buyer’s agent, start online. The internet can be a great resource to help you select a buyer’s agent. This is especially helpful when trying to buy a home from afar. Look for agents who have expertise in a specific area. This can be especially helpful if you’re looking to get into a tight-knit community or a high-end home. Most agents now show the homes they’ve sold to buyers in the past, and this will give you an indication of their level of experience with getting people into houses in your desired neighborhoods.

Be strategic in your online search. Searching for just buyer’s agents in your city will come back with too many options. But searching for buyers’ agents in a specific neighborhood can also help. Look at online reviews as well. Glean information from not only Google, but also from places like Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, and even Angi.

You’ll also want to be sure the buyer’s agent can help you even if you’re moving in from out of town. The skills required to do home showings remotely and handle paperwork online are far different from doing everything in person.

Look for People With Memberships You Can Trust

Many realtors are part of professional organizations. Some of these organizations and memberships only require an annual fee to get in, and they will give a membership to any agent. Others have defined the number of years in the business, the number of homes sold, and even how much money they’ve sold in houses. Other organizations require their constituents to go through training to get qualified.

Companies like Dave Ramsey put together lists of realtors who meet their minimum qualifications. While these agents pay to be on the list, they also must have a certain reputation, which allows them to stay on the list. When individuals search for an agent in their area, they can also look to those connected to this other organization that they also trust. Other companies do similar, like the Better Business Bureau.

Find a Buyer’s Agent Who Is Not Also the Seller’s Agent

When you’re ready to buy a home, finding an agent who will work on your behalf is important. Some realtors can act as dual agents. This means they can be both the seller’s agent for the person selling the house and the buyer’s agent for you. Unfortunately, this automatically creates a conflict of interest. And while perfectly legal, it can also mean you won’t get the best representation. A seller’s agent’s primary role is to help the seller make money on their home when the transaction is complete, and they can’t do that and help you get the best deal.

Be sure to ask about any potential conflicts of interest in the real estate transaction. This can be as simple as asking if they have any vested interest in selling the home, selling on behalf of a family member or friend and whether they will make any money, beyond standard selling fees, on the transaction.

Do Interviews With Different Agents

This one is probably the most important. Real estate agents work for you. Finding a buyer’s agent is critical because they can see properties before they go live on the market, have connections with other agents to help them find properties, and are skilled at asking questions and reading between the lines on many listings you see online. Interviewing multiple agents will ensure that you find someone skilled, knowledgeable, and with whom you can connect. You don’t want to work with someone who rubs you the wrong way. The only way to find a trustworthy agent is to start asking around, interviewing them, and being willing to ask hard questions about conflicts of interest.