What are some of the key things you should be looking for when looking to hire a professional realtor? San Diego Realtor Steven Wener shares several things you should look for when looking to hire a professional to be your guide on your home buying and selling journey.

How Do You Know if You’re Hiring the Right Professional?

Hi, I'm Steven Wener of Whissel Realty brokered by eXp. And today what I wanted to talk to you about was how to choose the right professional that you hire in real estate. So I've been in this business since 1993. I know that's going to date me when you actually do the math. But the most important thing is when I first started, I had no clue about everything that this business took.

What I mean by that was every single possible plan, or contingency plan, or understanding of what I need to know in order to have so much value that I can take care of my clients. So some of the things that you as a consumer should truly be looking out for are our reviews. If you're actually going to be choosing somebody, look for somebody that already has social proof somewhere. There are different sites out there that will tell you a little bit about those agents, but it's really about what's said and the count. I don't want to take anything away from new agents, but again, if you're looking to invest 100s of 1000s, or millions of dollars in your future purchase or sale of a home, there's a very odd statistic out there that about 60 to 70% of the time, consumers choose the first person that reaches out, and you're making a multi-million dollar type of purchase in the San Diego market.

Our median price point over here is close to a million dollars at this point. So ask yourself, "Who are you trusting?" And when you meet somebody, are they just putting some sort of a slick document in front of you to talk about: what's going on? What they're going to do? How they're going to launch your property, or what they're going to do for you as a buyer's agent? Or are they sitting down there, and they truly getting to know you? Because the most important part is when you can demonstrate, and bring value about the real estate process, you don't have to worry about as much of, "How are they going to take care of me?" What you need to understand is are in alignment with you?

And for me, communication is everything, and not everybody does that. And you're going to get a gut feeling about the person that you're sitting with. And even when I sell houses or I list a property, when I'm talking to my clients about an offer that comes, or an offer we're submitting, or a house that we look at, I always have them do a gut check. And the reason being is you can't lie to yourself. So sit back, take stock of: what does their experience look like? What value are they bringing?

How are they demonstrating a true process? Do they have social proof? What can you check about their track record? Is somebody open to you, actually talking to their references, and can they get a reference on their phone now? Again, I cannot reiterate enough how important it is that you are spending a tremendous amount of money on a property, but it's not just a property, it's a home. So where are you going to be living? Who is getting you there? Are you actually just going to suffer through a process because you didn't do your homework correctly because all you did was choose somebody that has a real estate license? In San Diego County present day, we have about 26,000 agents. There are only about 500 agents of that count that are doing north of 24 transactions a year.

So please take your time, do your due diligence, interview, be prepared with questions, sit down, get a great feeling, and understand that you're going to be working with this particular person for a set period of time. Once you get something under contract, you've got about 30 days, but it's everything before, it's everything after. And it's the entire experience from when you meet to way beyond an escrow closing. Develop a relationship with that person because that person, the way I actually take care of my clients, I'm a resource for pretty much everything.

Accountants, and CPAs, wealth managers, contractors call me first. And that's the way I've built my entire business. And all I want for the people that I get the pleasure of working with is for them to feel insanely comfortable because that's the nature of service, and this is a service industry. So again, I'm Steven Wener of Whissel Realty brokered by eXp. Please choose wisely.

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