When you want to buy or sell a property, you might experience a lot of
challenges if you are doing it all by yourself. Posting the advertisement for
buying or selling, choosing the platforms to advertise the deal, pricing the
property, finding the right customers, negotiating with them, striking the final deal and checking all the paperwork are cumbersome tasks.

This is why a professional real estate agent is mandatory for you to help you with buying or selling a property. When you have identified the right agent,you can rest assured knowing that your property is in the right hands and that you would definitely get a good deal from the transaction. However, to find a real estate agent in Clinton Mo or any other place in this world, who suits your requirements very well is not as easy as you would have imagined.

Today, you will lots of real estate agents on various platforms claiming to help you with your property for attractive rates of commission. You should never choose an agent without doing your research, regardless of how attractive their offers may sound to you. How to find out the best real estate agent in Clinton Mo or any other locality of your choice? Here, we have given some tips  to consider to find the answer to this question.

1. Check with your friends and family

One of the best and time-tested ways to choose a good real estate agent is to
check with your friends and family. Have they dealt with an agent recently and had an awesome experience? Get recommendations of some good agents in your locality from them, so that you can check more about these agents from their websites and online presence. Once you have got a few names, you need to note them down and prepare their profiles, so that it becomes easy for you to choose the best among them. You can also check with your neighbors for references of some good real agent agents that they have dealt in the past. The names given through word of mouth publicity can never go wrong. That’s why it is important to choose this as the first method than online searches.

2. Conduct further analysis on the names that you have got

By now, your friends, family and neighbors would have given you at least five names of good real estate agents that they have dealt with in the past. Now is the time to conduct further analysis to see if you can narrow your choices further and bring it to about 3 agents. The steps you have to do here are:

 Check the websites of the agents and understand how they approach
their clients Read the listings to know how updated they are in their respective
niches
 Take a look at the testimonial section to see the success stories of their
clients
 Check for their memberships and certifications; you need to choose an
agent who is a member of the NAR (National Association of Realtors) to
be sure that you have chosen an authorized agent
 If an agent has additional certifications pertaining to specific niches
such as residential complexes, seniors’ deals, etc. it adds to its value
 Check for the online presence of these agents to see how actively they
engage with their customers; if an agent hasn’t responded to customer
queries posted on his listing for a long time, he is not the right choice for
you
 Understand more about his niche from his website (for example, is he
dealing with first-timers only, does he deal with industrial buildings
only, etc.); if this is your niche as well, you have found the right agent
 Check for online reviews of these agents to see how their customers feel
about them. It is also very important to get information about these
agents from BBB (Better Business Bureau), as this will know about the
business history of the agents, wrongdoings & complaints in the past, if
any and more.These will help you narrow down your choices to about three real estate agents before you proceed further.

3. Personal discussions are a must

You have to schedule personal interviews with at least three real estate agents before you finally make your choice. These interviews will help you understand more about the agents, their communication, area of expertise,
approachability, personality, etc. Choose an agent who is confident about his presentation and who doesn’t shy away from giving you references when you ask for it.

An agent must be available for you 24/7 for buying or selling property until the time the deal is closed. So, you need to choose an agent who is open to long working hours. You could also quiz him on the latest SEO techniques in real estate. In today’s world, it makes sense to choose an agent who is an expert in SEO and technology, so that you don’t have to spend extra on other professionals for completing your tasks.

An agent, who is good at SEO, will guide you on how to market your property in the best way possible to improve its worth in the eyes of buyers or sellers. Also, it would be a great plus, if he can handle the social media page of your property as well. The job of an agent is not done until a deal closes. There may be people who raise questions about the property on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Your agent should be quick enough to answer these queries to create a
customer database for you. At the time of interviews, you could ask the agents if they have a team to take care of these things. Choose an agent who is properly-staffed so that he can look after your property details and listing while his team takes care of the SEO and social media management. You need an agent who listens to your requirements.

So, when you hold a personal discussion with the agents, you need to check
about their knowledge on SEO and social media as well. Choose the one that
fits the bill perfectly. An enthusiastic, qualified agent with a good knowledge of social media and SEO is a great resource for you.

4. Pay attention to the contract

Once you get quotes from the agent, you need to go through them carefully to check for hidden costs, if any. An agent, who is transparent about his
commission rate and other operating costs, is the one who will suit you the
best. Once you have hired a particular agent, you have to give him the contract of employment.

Ensure that you hire a professional advocate at the time of drafting the
contract so that you don’t miss out on any terms. Also, according to the NAR,
it takes only about 30 days from the day of listing for a property to be bought or sold. So, ensure that the term of your contract is only 6 months or even lesser.

For example, if you have partnered with your agent for about 3 months
as per the contract, you can look for a new agent, if your property is not bought or sold within the 3-month period.

5. Trust your instincts – they are rarely wrong

While having personal discussions with your agent, your instincts will start
giving you clues if he is the right person for you. The way he listens to your
requirements, his body language and his overall personality will help you
decide if you have to hire him or not. Sometimes, an agent might talk a lot

about his commission and less about the actual property deal. This is a definite giveaway that you cannot trust him. Sometimes, an agent might go on talking about his experience and his longevity in the field. However, you know well that it is not the quantity but the quality that’s important. These are some agents that your instincts will reject right in the first few minutes of the interview.

Never choose an agent who tries to force his opinions on you. He should listen to your requirements clearly and explain to you about the features of the property that he has found for you. However, he should also give you enough freedom to think and make your own decision. After all, it is a deal that involves your hard-earned money; therefore, it should be your call and not your agent’s. Stay away from agents who persuade you or push you to make a certain decision.

In a nutshell, we would like to reiterate that your research should be fool-proof if you are looking to partner with a good real estate agent for buying or selling a property. Choosing an agent who specializes in your niche will solve quite a lot of problems for you. Also, in this age of SEO, digital marketing and social media marketing, it only makes sense to choose an agent who is well-versed in these fields. This way, you can trust your agent to help you make qualified decisions when it comes to finalizing a deal.