Having a successful relationship with your real estate broker takes some effort. Here are some great tips.
Many clients are afraid to “nag” their broker. Real estate moves quickly There are legal documents to file and deadlines to keep track of. There are appointments to make and documents to get. Whenever you communicate with your broker, do it two ways–by text/call and email. Emails can get sent to spam and voicemail can get accidentally deleted when you have sixty messages. Real estate brokers are busy.
There’s no such thing as a stupid question. If your broker makes you feel dumb for asking questions then she’s the wrong broker for you.
Quite often I give clients a plastic box with a stack of index cards and a pen inside. So they can write down questions, answers, homes they want to look at, and any other real estate information that’s important.
When you become my client, I send you a link to download the Northwest Multiple Listing Service app that’s customized for my clients. Each time you favorite a home, I get a notification that you like that property. That gives me a chance to look at the property listing and photos to point out any problems with the house. It’s also very easy to favorite a home and request I set up a showing.
Another cool thing about the app is that if you have your location on, nearby properties will appear on the map. That makes it easy to see several homes at once in one trip if you really like the neighborhood.
Real estate is your broker’s job. We are licensed by the state and forbidden to give legal or expert advice. It’s not that we don’t want to answer you; it’s that we legally can’t without endangering our license. We are not experts on legal phrases, mortgage loans, title insurance, mold, structural integrity, inspections, septic systems, etc. If we recommend that you consult an inspector, mortgage broker, insurance broker, lawyer, or other expert, heed that advice. Our job is to help you complete the real estate documents you need to buy or sell a house and adhere to the various deadlines along the way.
We also must respect the homes we let our clients into. People live there. If they want your shoes off, take them off. Don’t wander. Don’t touch other people’s things. If you are caught on camera behaving improperly at a property showing, your broker can lose her license, her job, her income, and her own home.
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