There can be any number of reasons why a homeowner is pressed into selling their current property and buying a new one in an entirely different region of the country on a rather rushed timeline. Naturally, a new job or relocation by the company are the most likely ones, but there can be others as well. No matter what your reasoning may be, having to go through the home buying process without having all the natural conveniences of working within your existing locale can be disconcerting for many.
Here at Real Estate Leads, while our primary focus in on providing a way for realtors to get more client leads, we realize the value in providing realtors with insights about how to best serve their clients. Accordingly, this week we’ll discuss ways you can advise clients who are buying a home in a distant city and the best way to choose a realtor there.
Interview multiple realtors over the phone
Advise your clients to interview more than a few realtors in their new destination of choice, and of course don’t hesitate to offer to make recommendations or inquiries yourself if you feel qualified to do so. Suggest that they don’t be afraid to ask each realtor if they are going to have time to answer their questions. When making a long-distance move, any homebuyer is going to have more questions than if you were moving across town. Unless you’ve already established ties with a realtor in that specific city or town of a Province, have them be sure to interview at least 3 candidates.
Make Sure Your Potential New Realtor is Sufficiently Connected
Your clients should determine with certainty that their potential new realtor has the resources they will need access to throughout the home-buying process. For example, do they have a lender they can recommend? Do they have a title company, home inspector and maybe a handyman on tap in the event that their future home has some touch-up projects that will need doing?
It’s quite likely they’ll need a few of these people, and it may be that neither you nor they know of any of them in the intended new hometown. Your home-buying process will be easier if their realtor has these resources, and any reputable realtor should have some such people in their working acquaintances.
Ask As Many Questions As Needed
Encourage your clients to ask everyone single questions they have to help them gather all the information required so that they are making their home buying decision with confidence. As you will surely agree, any good realtor will be more than happy to field the entirety of those questions.
Further, have them ask their potential realtor for neighbourhood suggestions, and advise them to make sure they pick a realtor who answers those questions with thoroughness and individual perspective based on who exactly your clients are.
Drive That Commute
While it may be considered onerous, if it’s possible it’s very worth having them drive their potential new commute if and when they travel to their prospective new hometown, and ideally do it during rush hour if they’re to be a working man, woman, or even couple. They may think moving to a suburb outside the city is far enough out to not be affected by traffic, but that might be wrong and particularly so if it’s a metropolitan urban area like Vancouver or Toronto. Suggest they drive a couple of different routes to make sure.
They likely don’t want to end up stuck in gridlock for an hour on their way to work, so they likely won’t be opposed to the suggestion at least.
One That Knows What To Offer
It’s perfectly fine to expect a realtor to be able to ascertain what type of purchasing power a prospective client has without meeting them ‘in person.’ Further, they can and should be able to take that information and determination and connect it to how much to offer for a specific house in the new location.
A good realtor will have comparable properties that have recently sold and be able to explain a reasonable offer price for their home based on the sale price of these specific comparable properties.
Present During the Home Inspection
Have your clients expect their prospective realtor be present for the walk through with the home inspector. He or she should be proactive in asking about anything that doesn’t look right or that the client doesn’t or wouldn’t understand. It is obviously better to be informed before they sign to purchase the home than to have unexpected and often costly surprises after closing.
As always, these are just some introductory tips to consider. If your clients are looking to buy a home in a different city in Canada and they’d like to be on the right track as far as referencing properties and working with a new realtor, their best bet is to do plenty of research on their own and then having you as their current real estate agent provide referrals if you have them.
Sign up for Real Estate Leads here and enjoy qualified, online generated seller and buyer leads that are provided to you exclusively and for your exclusive region of the country.
