A member of the forum started a very interesting thread entitled “Is being a successful real estate agent mostly about marketing?”. The thread itself is relatively young but we thought it would be interesting to see what property investors think of real estate agents and what makes a successful property adviser. We all have different views, different ideas and different requirements but what should you expect from a successful real estate agent?
Know your market
It seems common sense but any real estate agent worth their salt should know about their own market, what makes it tick, what is trending at the moment and be able to give advice to potential customers. If a customer has a particular question which is detailed and perhaps relates to a niche market they might not expect a detailed answer without further research – but they will expect at the very least an overview of the market. Quality real estate agents will always deliver!
This is what makes good real estate agents stand out from the competition, knowledge of their local marketplace and an ability to translate this into common sense talk when communicating with potential investors.
Marketing properties
Whether you are looking to buy a property or you are a seller you will at some point require the services of a real estate agent. The best real estate agents are those who have extremely good networking skills and have been able to build up a circle of friends, acquaintances and experts over the years. These are people who work extremely hard building up working and personal relationships with those in the know to ensure that they are front of the queue when any properties are available or a customer is looking to invest.
Those new to the worldwide real estate market will likely look at the Internet and automatically assume that it is simply a case of listing your property and waiting for the enquiries to follow. However, if you look at any of the online estate agencies will see there many many properties listed and in order to get the best price you need to stand out from the crowd. This is where your trusted estate agent comes in…..
Pre-marketing transactions
As you build your relationship with a friendly real estate agent you will likely notice that some are able to offer access to property developments before they hit the wider market. This type of relationship can be worth its weight in gold, allowing developers access to trusted investors and access to high quality developments for those looking to invest. Becoming part of this kind of network is not easy and will take time but if you work on it, maintain regular contact with other professionals it will eventually fall into place.
To some people this kind of activity may seem slightly underhand, gaining access to properties before they hit the wider market. In reality it is simply a case of matching up high-quality investors with high-quality property developers. So very quickly you will notice that the best real estate agents can network for fun, they have an understanding of the market and are able to undertake detailed research when required. At the end of the day money talks and when commission is made available to a real estate agent you can bet your bottom dollar they will do their upmost to close the deal.