N1cky

I'm currently talking to realtors about helping us find a house to buy. We're looking in an extremely competitive area, where houses are placed on the market, have an open weekend and receive 5-30 offers. Houses generally sell for 15% above listing price. Anything on the market for 3 weeks is considered slow moving.

I'm finding it difficult to know what questions to ask, and how to remove all the bullshit they tell you. I've narrowed it down to a couple of agents I like, both came recommended, and I've narrowed it down on gut feeling

Any advise?

scrubbedexpat097

Yes...ask santa for more wine!

Sorry honey. I'm no help. We haven't bought a house for 25 years and the bank did everything for us anyway!

Stay calm, bite your tongue and drink the wine x

username.exe

Go off of personal recommendations, quality and accuracy of information they give you and gut feeling. Are they going to act in your best interests, or are they looking to simply maximise their commissions?

Wintersong

For me: personal recommendations and gut feeling. Don't forget, you can always fire them if you don't feel they're doing a good job.

jeepster

Look for an agent who is a "Broker Associate" it means they have a brokers license. Agents with Broker's licenses are able to own and operate they're own shop so they know a bit more than Realtor Sales Agents.

carcajou

Sounds like you've already got a solid plan!

Nutmegger

Seconded. Someone could be the top producer in town, but if they don't mesh with your personality and "get" what you are looking for, it's pointless trying to work with them.

Bob

And ask at your bank. They're always dealing with people buying houses and get the skinny about who was great and who were shit to deal with from people.

cxx

Another vote for recommendations (from people like you!) and gut feel. I'd be wary of using one that a company recommends as we've had that situation twice and both were absolutely useless but appeared to have friends in the right places
We also had one recommended by acquaintences who weren't impressed when we ditched her but she was totally useless.
We found it useful to get a few to show us properties to see how they worked then select one as that gave a proper insight into how they worked and if they gelled.

mrken30

Find a broker that knows something about house construction. The realtor I use now is fairly knowledgable about lots of different aspects about construction. I have dealt with other realtors that did not have a clue and were just selling houses.

If you are looking in 2 States, look for someone who is licensed in both States

petitefrancaise

Someone who has been doing it for years and lives in the area. Gut feeling and recommendations by friends works too. But I'd go for the first one. You're going to need someone who won't sell you a dud because they know which ones are duds and also someone with good negotiating skills - they need to know how to frame the offer so that yours is the best one without just going straight to extra dollars. Our agent got this house for us, the first offer we made with 3 other people competing. She knew the seller agent who also lived in the neighbourhood and who had also been in business for over 15years.
Can you look at registration details for the agents to see how long they have been around? In Austin there are thousands of registered agents but a much smaller number make more than 10 sales a year.

eta whilst our first offer was accepted I heard so many people moaning that they'd made offers on 12-15-20 houses that weren't getting accepted. I'd have changed agents well before that point!

N1cky

Thanks everyone, I'm glad people are saying gut feeling, I was worried I wasn't asking some important questions...

The 2 agents I've narrowed it down to were both recommended by our mortgage man. Both have good experience in the area. Unfortunately most people we know here bought their houses 10+ years ago (lucky buggers). I'm meeting with them both next week, hopefully 1 will stand out over the other.

Pulaski

This, and they need to understand your needs and expectations. There's nothing worse than a realtor who trys to foist their idea of a perfect home on you, especially if it's more than your budget. So make sure that they are willing to work with you to find your idea of a perfect home.

petitefrancaise

In a market as hot as N1cky's you just have to watch everything coming onto the market. Go to as many open houses as you can and be prepared to get an offer in within a couple of hours.. I wouldn't leave finding a house to the agent, I did quite a bit of leg work myself and was glad I did. Saw the open house sign, looked around, spoke to the neighbours ( the owners said this was actually the reason we got the house, the neighbour liked me and none of the other people looking at the house bothered to talk to him), called my agent, went back an hour later (on a sunday) with husband and kids. Made the offer within 2 hours which was accepted the next morning.

N1cky

Unfortunately, in this market we're not going to be getting the perfect home. It's going to be the best we can get for the money, something on the list is going to have to be compromised on.

I do know what you mean though.