How does one find a good Realtor? And will 1 Realtor be enough? (Denver: apartment)

[Brian_M]

I understand that Realtors receive the largest portion of their business from repeat and referrals. But how does someone who knows no one in the Denver area get a referral to someone that works for them? At this point, I've dealt with 2 Realtors (one when I bought my house, and a different when I sold because the first was no longer doing RE). The first was a flat-out cold call to their office and he set the bar. I had no reason to use him going in, but I activly sought him out when it was time to sell because I knew I'd get the service I desired and would not be upset with paying his comission. There is no way I could verbaly convey our happiness in the quality of service he provided. Our 'selling' agent came as a recomendation of a friend and worked at the #1 selling office in town. She was so bad that we wrote complaints to the owners of the listing company and the state Realtor board. She'd been a Realtor for 10 years, so apparently someone must be happy (this was middle of Wyoming, it Felt like "good 'ole boy" network where if we complained, we would have Never sold... worst feeling we've had to deal with in our combined adult lives). She didn't Earn a single cent.

So, all of that said... how does one go about finding an agent remotely (we're in Alaska until September) that is compatable? How about in person (we're renting a month-to-month apartment while home shopping)? Is there a secret?

I know it's against the TOS to post recomendations and they can be sent via DM/PM but that doesn't answer the 'how' of finding someone who's compatable. It's not like we're even that hard to make happy, probably more so now that the bar has been burried 6' under.



As a 2nd independed question, since we're not limited to location (wife is a Pharmacist and can pretty much get a job within a mile or two of any home with all the Walgreens, Walmarts, etc...), will 1 Realtor be able to help us find the right home for us regardless of where it may be located within the greater Denver area?

Thanks,

Brian

[Augie Daugie]

I figured out where I wanted to live first, then searched google maps for realtors in the neighborhood. Found a realtor located in the neighborhood, gave them a call, we clicked, then we shopped for a house.

[Mike from back east]

Post #13 in this thread tells how to interview realtors so you get a good one.

From what I've read here, you should interview at least 3.

[Brian_M]

Thanks Mike.. I had not found that post in my searches (and I'm still searching).



Augie, my wife and I are looking for the right home. We know full well that it can be anywhere in the whole Denver area as we've found nice properties in nice neighborhoods all over the map. So picking an area first would mean drastically limiting our Choices. It's not a money thing. We settled on our last home due to limited availability and do not want to settle on our next home.

Or, in short, we did pick an area. The greater Denver metro area. That's just a slightly larger area than most.

[2bindenver]

You are looking for a generalist, not a specialist. As in some Realtors specialize in specific neighborhoods or geo-segments like downtown or Piney Creek.

A generalist, usually has a lot of years of experience in the same metro area.

In this market, with a lot of inventory (depending on the price range) you don't have to settle, but you do have other buyer's as competition.

[sterlinggirl]

Whether you're buying or selling, it's a good idea to look at the various Realtor's listings to see how good of a job they do when they're trying to sell a property. If they do a sloppy job on their listings, they're probably going to do a poor job in other areas of their work as well.

Here's the steps I would take:
Find the agents who do a great job on their listings
Check Craigslist or local classifieds to see if they're actively marketing properties
Call title attorneys' offices to ask who does a great job of bringing trouble free closings to their office
Call a couple agents to see who does the best job of answering their phone/returning calls

The last thing I would suggest is to keep a couple options available. It's almost always a bad idea to have dual representation between buyer and seller, and I'd also try to avoid using a buyer's agent working under the same broker as the seller's agent.

[fsufezzik]

When my wife and I moved to the Denver area from San Francisco without ever having been here before, we asked a Realtor who we knew and trusted in another state (my mother, who lives in Pennsylvania) for a referral. She searched through resumes of agents in the Denver area and picked one who sounded like he would be a good fit for helping us. She did an excellent job in choosing, because our agent was great and very helpful. So, that's how we found an agent from afar.

[2bindenver]

Originally Posted by sterlinggirl

Whether you're buying or selling, it's a good idea to look at the various Realtor's listings to see how good of a job they do when they're trying to sell a property. If they do a sloppy job on their listings, they're probably going to do a poor job in other areas of their work as well.

Not all Great Buyers Agents have active current listings.

Originally Posted by sterlinggirl

Call title attorneys' offices to ask who does a great job of bringing trouble free closings to their office

We do not have title attorneys to call. We hire a title company be our scribe for closing. The trouble is coming from the lenders, not the agents.

Originally Posted by sterlinggirl

The last thing I would suggest is to keep a couple options available. It's almost always a bad idea to have dual representation between buyer and seller, and I'd also try to avoid using a buyer's agent working under the same broker as the seller's agent.

No Dual Agency in Colorado. Designated agency. No imputed knowledge.