The advantages of using a local estate agent (2024)

FAQs

Why is it important to use a local realtor? ›

Your local REALTOR® keeps you informed about local laws, municipal services, wells and septics, and other things that are common in rural homes. They can also help you make sense of city development projects, zoning and bylaws, and the many bureaucratic processes.

A Local Agent Has the Personal Touch

Using a local real estate agent means you are going to get a more personalized home buying (or selling!) experience. Your local agent also will really know the market well, so they can find the perfect home (or kind of buyer) that will suit exactly what you need.

Location is key to valuable real estate. Homes in cities that have little room for expansion tend to be more valuable than those in cities that have plenty of room. Consider the accessibility, appearance, and amenities of a neighborhood as well as plans for development.

Some realtors will have a preferred lender that they can recommend to you. They might prefer that lender because they've built a good working relationship with the lending team.

Integrity. One of the most important characteristics of a good real estate agent is honesty. This means that if you want to become an agent who is known for being the best at their job, you must have the integrity to offer evidence of this claim.

One of the biggest drawbacks of working with a real estate agent is the cost. Agent commissions can be a significant expense for sellers, as they typically take a percentage of the sale price of the home. Buyers may also face additional costs, such as closing costs and other fees.

For lower priced properties, online firms compare well with high-street agents, but the performance drops in higher price brackets. If you are selling a cheaper property and want to use this route, you may be better off using a free online agent than a paid one.

What is the biggest disadvantage of real estate? ›

High Cost: The biggest disadvantage with real estate investment is the high capital requirement. To get started, you need to provide for down payments, EMIs, insurance, property taxes, stamp duty and so on.

Truth be told, many agents don't have enough experience and will never gain enough experience to develop into a true professional. There's significant turnover in the real estate industry, and the number of active real estate agents often falls and rises with the economy.

The three most important factors when buying a home are location, location, and location. Too often I hear people talking about making decisions based on the home itself, instead of the location, and that is a mistake.

Five location advantages you should consider are trade access, consumer/market proximity, adjacent business communities, proximity to talent sources and lower costs. Let's explore each of these five location advantages further.

The advantages accrued by a firm through being located at a particular site or within a jurisdiction. These can include access to raw materials, key markets, low wages, special taxes or tariffs, and the benefits of agglomeration.

If meeting with lenders face to face is important to you, a local bank with a good reputation is a sound choice. Local banks may also have better rates or lower fees than online options do. Both types of lenders offer mortgage pre-approval.

Contact several different lenders — it's helpful to get to know a few different loan officers. Different lenders also offer different kinds of loans. You want to explore your options in greater detail. Ask questions to help you get a better sense for what kind of loan might be the best choice for you.

Another definition: An agent is a computer software system whose main characteristics are situatedness, autonomy, adaptivity, and sociability.

What is an agent and why is it useful? ›

An agent is authorized to act on behalf of another person, such as an attorney or a stockbroker. People hire agents to perform tasks that they lack the time or expertise to do for themselves.

Communicate. Being a good real estate agent means always being in touch with your clients—past, present, and future. Present clients looking for their next home are always in need of consistent communication with you.

As the seller, you usually ask for the highest and best offer to eliminate negotiations and expedite the deal. It lets buyers know you're looking for only the most serious offers. Conversely, with a best and final offer, you're asking buyers to go above and beyond the competition to convince you to sell to them.

Thank you so much for your help with [buying/selling] our home. You made the process simple and easy to understand for us, and we appreciated your patience and expertise. Your insight was extremely valuable to us and I don't think we could have done this without you.

A good rule is that a 1% increase in interest rates will equal 10% less you are able to borrow but still keep your same monthly payment. It's said that when interest rates climb, every 1% increase in rate will decrease your buying power by 10%. The higher the interest rate, the higher your monthly payment.

The 1% rule of real estate investing measures the price of the investment property against the gross income it will generate. For a potential investment to pass the 1% rule, its monthly rent must be equal to or no less than 1% of the purchase price.

Real Estate Transaction Costs are High

The transaction costs associated with buying and selling properties can be quite steep. These costs, which include commissions, title insurance, loan origination fees, and a variety of closing costs, can easily wipe out the appreciation in market value of a property.

Real estate investments tend to have high transactional costs, especially in legal and brokerage fees. The process of acquiring a new property is also very long and tedious with lots of legal formalities. Another disadvantage of property investments is that they are not easy to liquidate.

Should real estate agents use social media? ›

Social media can be an excellent marketing tool for real estate agents, providing you will an effective communication platform that will let you share your expertise and listings in a way that helps to build trust.

The Pros Of Digital Real Estate Investing

Like physical real estate, digital real estate appreciates. If you own it, you earn appreciation, which means you can sell the property for more than you paid, making capital gains on your investment. Diversifying your investment portfolio helps offset the risk of a total loss.

Online Agent means an estate agent, lettings agent (and in Scotland, solicitor agents) and/or commercial property agent that operates primarily via a website (rather than a physical branch) and/or does not operate through a local office network; Sample 1.

This occurs when an agent presents false information about a home, both intentionally and unintentionally. Usually, errors are accidental but if you feel like a misstatement of a home's property boundaries or structural features led you to pay more for a home, you may pursue legal action against the agent.

A big reason for this is trust, as real estate transactions generally involve large sums of money as well as legalities. Any mistakes in this process can result in costly legal ramifications whether an agency is responsible or not.

Even after buying the property, you have to pay property tax, society maintenance, pay for repairs, etc. Moreover, if you have rented your property, there are chances of damage to the property, which is an added cost to you. All these expenses do not make real estate a good investment option.

Why owning a house should not be your biggest investment? ›

A house has a more important primary purpose

Probably the single biggest reason why a house is not an investment is that its primary purpose is providing you with a place to live. So, it's not something you can really do without — like a company stock or a share of a mutual fund, for example.

Their research has shown that the economic impact of a typical home sale can boost the area by anywhere from $50,000 to almost $114,000 depending upon the type of home. Multiply this by several home sales and it can be a very promising boost to a local economy.

One of the most important characteristics of a good real estate agent is honesty. This means that if you want to become an agent who is known for being the best at their job, you must have the integrity to offer evidence of this claim. Being dishonest, unethical and immoral can tarnish a career fast, and for good.

Those who sell at farmers markets significantly shorten the distance from farm to table, so you can purchase recently picked, perfectly ripe fruits and vegetables. Plus, you can support the environment, as lower distances equal fewer carbon emissions.

Local marketing is a specific strategy businesses can use to target and reach potential customers within a certain distance of their business's location. Naturally customers are looking to purchase products or services in the most convenient way.

The three most important factors when buying a home are location, location, and location. Too often I hear people talking about making decisions based on the home itself, instead of the location, and that is a mistake.

On its own, real estate offers cash flow, tax breaks, equity building, competitive risk-adjusted returns, and a hedge against inflation. Real estate can also enhance a portfolio by lowering volatility through diversification, whether you invest in physical properties or REITs.