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The decision has been made to buy a home. Where do you start? Well, you can spend $.50 and buy a copy of the St. Louis Post Dispatch or you can go on-line or you can drive around the areas that you're interested in and look for yard signs.
Or you can do the research and pick an experienced, qualified agent and take advantage of all
of the tools and resources that a professional real estate agent has at his or her disposal and let the agent do the foot work. The best thing about this option is that it's free!
The key to that statement above is to pick an experienced, qualified agent. In order to do this you need to do some research. Talk to several agents. Ask them about their experience, how many transactions they did last year. Ask them for references and call these references. Check out their web sites. In today's real estate market an agent needs to be up to speed when it comes to technology. They should have more than a 5 page electronic brochure. That said, don't go with an agent simply because they have a fancy web site. That might simply mean that they paid somebody a lot of money to put it together for them. More on picking an agent in the next section, How To Pick A Realtor.
The big thing to remember here is that a real estate purchase is a huge undertaking. Just as you probably wouldn't represent yourself in a court of law, you shouldn't go without representation on what is probably going to be one of your largest investments ever.
In addition to the expertise that a qualified Realtor can bring to the table, they also bring a host of tools as mentioned above. These tools include;
1) Knowledge of the market.
2) Financing options that are out there for you.
3) Community information such as schools, zoning, utilities, etc.
4) An objective third party to help you look out for your interests in negotiations.
5) A network of service providers that they have experience with to provide inspections, repairs, mortgages and the like.
6) Being an advocate for your behalf in the event that there is a problem with your transaction.
You can almost think of your Realtor as your spirit guild to the real estate world. They will be there to help you find your way through what can be a very confusing, emotional time. Don't be afraid of getting sold to. A good Realtor will help you, not sell to you!
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