Your Role With Your Realtor

1. Be honest and remain loyal to your Realtor

Honesty in discussing your financial situation and carefully reviewing the features you are looking for in a home helps the Realtor find prospective homes best suited to your needs. It saves you a great deal of time.

2. If the Realtor earns your trust, remain loyal. Use your Realtor to follow up on Advertisements in the newspaper or "For Sale" signs that catch your eye. They have access to any information you need and show you through virtually any property you wish to see.

You have "hired" your Realtor to provide the best possible service to you; so let them work for you! If you must give in to the temptation of touring an Open House without your Realtor, take his or her business card with you and let the Open House Agent know you are already working with someone. Sometimes, touring without your Realtor could weaken your negotiating power, should you divulge information while discussing your needs in a social manner.

3. The Realtor will be spending a lot of time and effort on your behalf, but won't be paid unless and until the transaction is completed.

4. Buyers who attempt to deal with several Realtors may miss out on the high level of interest and comprehensive service one is entitled to expect through loyalty to a single Realtor.

5. Remain objective and open-minded. Don't let a small particular feature in a home affect your judgment about an entire home. If a home seems to fit your criteria particularly well, seriously consider acting on it soon. In a strong market, you may lose an opportunity to make an offer on the house if you don't act quickly. Even in a "soft" market, attractively priced, feature-packed homes don't stay unsold for very long.