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Peggy McLaughlin, a Realtor Professional with ERA Justin Realty has been instrumental in hundreds of real estate transactions throughout her career. Her repeat business through referrals is outstanding as she now serves the needs of grown children whose parents engaged Peggy during her early years throughout Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties. Here Peggy explains the benefits of hiring the right real estate agent.
ERA Justin Realty Report: Selecting the Right Real Estate Agent in 2011
In our fast-paced real estate world with technologies that guide us from minute to minute, buyers and sellers must know facts rather than fiction to be successful in their purchase and sale. Picking the right real estate agent is at the top of the list.
Choices in real estate as in any business should be based on fact, not fiction. Agents who do a lot of business with excellent service provide a wealth of experience which can be necessary in the current real estate market. Years in business alone should not be the determinating criteria.
“It’s important to listen to pricing figures you may not want to hear, but important to know so you can make an educated decision both on agent selection and proper pricing. Hearing glowing overpriced pricing from an agent in order to obtain a listing is not prudent. To buy into such dream-pricing only to be disappointed, not selling your property and losing valuable time is counterproductive to what you need to be successful,” said Peggy McLaughlin, a Realtor professional with ERA Justin Realty.
Continuing, she added, “Be sure before you list your home for sale or selecting your agent, you receive a true and critical (CMA) Comparative Market Analysis, a complete report which gives value details based on current market activity, sold houses and even more telling, those listings throughout your community that did not sell due to overpricing and other criteria. You can then set a price that is meaningful to you so qualified buyers will have an interest. And lastly, the pricing must be in line with the very restrictive appraisal guidelines so mortgage financing can be granted to your new buyer. Under appraised value usually results in a no-sale transaction.”
Ron Darby, ERA Justin Broker Owner continued, “Our Realtor professionals do continuing education to better serve the needs of our customers and clients. We market our listings on dozens of websites, see to vast paperwork, work within the transaction to be sure that before any offer is presented to a seller that we have a mortgage preapproval for buyer financing, review all disclosures, negotiate the purchase and sale and attend home inspections, appraisals, certificate of occupancy inspections and other details too numerous to mention here.
Carefully examine your agent’s enthusiasm. Be sure the agent believes it can be sold in the current market if properly priced. Accept pricing updates from your agent if the market is unaccepting of your pricing and make needed adjustments as needed. Creating your team of professionals during a home purchase or sale is imperative in today’s challenging home-sale market and can be critical to your ultimate success.
As in any business, there are good agents and those who may not be in tune with current market conditions Some top-performing agents provide their clients with excellent service. Agents who do a lot of business have a wealth of experience to draw from can be helpful when problems arise. Our Realtor professionals oversee the marketing for our sellers and the house hunting for our buyers. We review disclosures and reports, negotiate the purchase contract and do whatever is required to facilitate a successful closing. You want to work with a professional who feels positively about your home and who believes it can be sold in the current market if properly priced and prepared for sale.”
ERA Justin Realty and its Realtor professionals will offer references from satisfied buyers and sellers whose opinions you can trust as they build a rapport with you. Don’t underestimate the importance of good rapport and mutual trust. You’ll be working with your Realtor professional for some time. Invariably problems crop up during a transaction. Working through the tough spots is far easier if you hire someone that you respect, trust and with whom you communicate well. The qualities you’re looking for in a Realtor include good communication skills, diligence, determination, promptness, trustworthiness, persistence and responsiveness.
Peggy concluded, “There is a difference in real estate companies. Attending on-going advanced training, seminars, round-table discussions with industry leaders and focus groups is what we continually do at our firm. We believe, in order to exceed buyers and seller’s expectations of what a real estate agent is about, we don’t learn just the basics. We want to learn, know and teach much more than is ever expected of us. In that way, we hope everyone holds us in the highest regard. To prove that, our sellers have put their thoughts in writing. We have on file for the asking, ‘Real Estate Results In Writing’ our report of nearly 800 testimonials from our very satisfied sellers and buyers.”
