Thinking about buying or selling a property in Destin, Florida? You’ve done all of your research ahead of time, we hope?. Are you ready; really ready? I’ve taken care of more than 50 million dollars of real estate transactions and I have a few tips for you which can help.
My opinion is that 5% of agents or brokers are awesome and about 95% offer little value. I know that is a harsh statement but I have really found it to be true both in Destin and in every other real estate market in which I have participated. In this article, what I will do is assume you are looking to buy a property with a Destin using a realtor.
First, go to Google and search the phrase “Destin Realtor”. You’ll get abut a zillion results ? start looking at the pages which come up. What do you notice about them?
For most, boy they all look exactly the same. So, let me see if I can summarize the typical web site. There we be a smiling picture, there will be a “search the MLS”, there will be a my listings, has about me, and has about the community. What more could a visitor possibly want, right?
As someone that has hunted for real estate agents across the country, let me tell you what is missing…… I HAVE NO IDEA IF THAT PERSON KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT OR NOT. I absolutely know that any agent can show me properties on the MLS, I absolutely know that they will take me around looking at properties, etc. etc.
But why would I want to enlist an agent or a broker if I didn’t know if they were awesome at what they do and they know the market like the back of their hand…. That is who I want to hire.
So how are you to find the top 5% of Destin realtors? There’s a lot of different ways to find a realtor; but if you want to find a realtor who is really an expert, then you need to start by getting educated about the market yourself ? this will let you evaluate whether or not the realtor you deal with know anything about the market themselves. In a recent blog post, I made the suggestion that buyers take a look at Realtor.com to learn as much as possible about the market before they even talk to an agent.
Why do you do this? Simply so that when you talk to a potential agent or broker to hire, you already have an idea of what is going on in the Destin market at that time. Then, tell them what you are looking for and shut up….. let them talk. If they are good, what they say will line up with what you already know but then they will add so much more value. If they are not so good, very little that they say will make sense to you and quite frequently, you will find them “pushing” one or two properties/developments.
Even if you think you have the best person on your first call, don’t stop there. Interview a few more until you are absolutely convinced you have the right person. Now you are in a position to really start working hand in hand with person finding the right property for you in Destin.