There is no question that a real estate agent does a lot. Before escrow, he is preparing buyers sheets or seller’s home checklists. Once a property goes into escrow, the real estate agent transitions into a detail machine overseeing contract negotiations, inspections, and disclosure reports. As the client, it is hard to pinpoint exactly what needs to be done when. Here is what to expect from your real estate agent in Rome to help keep you on track.
Help You Prioritize
When starting to shop for a home, it is important to have your needs and wants list for the home. Your real estate agent will help you understand what you can really get in the area you want to buy that meets your budget limits. These are difficult decisions to make but your realtor will be a solid sounding board of prioritizing things on your list. For example, if you have young children a good school is probably a top priority over a three-car garage.
Your Rome NY Realtor has a lot more industry knowledge than you may realize. Rome realtors have navigated FHA and VA appraisals for example, and may be able to point potential issues out before scheduling a home tour. This can help save you time, effort, and money!
Locate Potential Properties
Although buyers can access a wealth of information online in today’s digital age, real estate agents have unique access to pocket listings and off-market properties through agent networking. Not every listing gets posted on the MLS boards. Your real estate agent will take into account your preferred areas and may suggest alternative locations to maximize your budget. Furthermore, they may have advanced knowledge as to homes about to hit the market!
Identify Preparation Needs for Listing
When selling your house, there is an endless list of things to do. Your real estate agent will do a preliminary walk-through and help you identify what things you can do to help sell faster and for more. This includes ways to stage the house, little things to fix or paint and how to keep things ready on a moments notice for viewing. Be honest with your agent about issues you are aware of with the house so nothing becomes a surprise during escrow that could kill the deal.
Rome Realtors should also have a robust list of industry professionals as resources for you. From home inspectors, to contractors and handymen, and even clean out crews, a network of professionals to refer to our clients is a must!
Negotiate On Your Behalf
One of the critical responsibilities of your real estate agent is to negotiate the deal on your behalf. This is for the buyer or the seller. In situations where the agent is the buyer’s and seller’s agent, he still has a fiduciary responsibility to be fair with negotiations. Negotiates start with the offer price and continue through inspection reports with requests for repairs or credits.
With the new buyer broker agreement upon us, home buyers in Rome NY have never had more transparency surrounding commissions and negotiations as they do currently.
Provide Resources
A good real estate agent has a phone contact list filled with resources for you. This includes referrals for mortgage lenders as well as inspectors they trust and escrow companies they know to be efficient. But the list of resources often goes well beyond this and includes insurance agents, cleaning people, doctors, and dentists in the new home community and any other resource you will want to get properly settled in your new home. Your real estate agent should know the community like their own if they don’t live there and be able to help you get settled quickly and efficiently.
Keep You On Track
One of the most crucial aspects of a real estate deal is grasping timelines. Failure to meet a deadline could result in forfeiting rights to essential elements such as inspections or credits. Your real estate agent is instrumental in keeping you on track. Starting from the initial offer, various small deadlines occur during the escrow period leading up to the final closing.You could also waste a bunch of money by not staying on track via the contractual timeline.