How does one find a real estate agent?

Silly question, I know, as there are many REAs who advertise on here. But is it just as simple as walking into a RE office and saying "hey, I wanna buy a house."?

Re: How does one find a real estate agent?

You can just walk in or call a local real estate company and say you want to buy a house. It happens. We, like most offices, have a rotation, so you will get assigned the next agent that is "up" on the board. It will be totally random.

Some of my buyer customers come to me by recommendations -- their friends or relatives know me or are my past customers. Others, I've met through open houses I've hosted.

I think the important thing is to find someone who you are comfortable with, and who is knowledgeable and will be accessible to you throughout the home buying process. You want someone who will take the time to do a consultation with you and find out what your buying needs are, and then will be proactive in working with you. I try to guide my buyers through the entire process from our first meeting to beyond the closing. I think you also want to work with an agent who does real estate full-time, so you are not limited in when you can see homes, and it does help to work with someone local who is familiar with the area you are looiing (that way, they know the available inventory and local amentities -- schools, stores, etc.).

You may want to meet with a few realtors and then decide who is the best fit to work with you. Buying a home can be stressful, but with the right experts by your side, it should be fun and relatively simple.

Please feel free to contact me if I can assist you. I've worked with and am currently working with several LIF'ers, and some of my past customers have posted positive reviews/comments about my services.

Even if you just want to bounce questions off someone - I am glad to help!

Re: How does one find a real estate agent?

Kim I would definitely get recommendations from friends and do your HW before settling with someone. You want someone who's going to listen to you and what YOU want, not just what they want to sell you. You obviously could just walk into an office and say- hey I want to buy/sell a house but you'd definitely be better off checking some people out and checking out their style before signing any contract.

Re: How does one find a real estate agent?

When we house hunted in the W Islip/Babylon area we used Netter for Suffolk.

I forget the agents name but she was super helpful. Crap. Marianne maybe? I think my mom's friend knew her - I'll find out.

Re: How does one find a real estate agent?

Good to know. Thanks!

Jenn, did you love her? Will she do out east near me?