Tigard Open House

What to ask

Here are six questions, the experts agree, you should ask any agent, whether you are buying or selling:

•	Do you work full time? Generally, you're better off with a full-time agent who keeps up with the local market, financing considerations and laws. Part-time agents, on the other hand, can provide full-time attention to one client at a time.
•	How long have you been in the real estate business? "Real estate is a field where people come and go quite often," Brenner says. "Selling real estate isn't an easy thing to do, and many Realtors get discouraged and quit. You should choose a Realtor with several years of good experience."
•	How many homes have you listed during the past year? Or, how many have you sold in the past three months?
•	Have you ever had any complaints from your clients?" It's a tough, but necessary question. But double-check the answer with a local realty association. And state licensing office.
•	Can you give me the names and phone numbers of past clients for references? Once you get the list -- use it!
•	How often will I hear from you? How frequently does the agent normally communicate with his clients and how (phone, e-mail, fax)? If you don't like the answers you should discuss this at length until you're satisfied you're on the same wavelength.

Buying A Home

Buying a home can be one of your most significant investments in life. Not only are you choosing your dwelling place, and the place in which you will bring up your family, you are most likely investing a large portion of your assets into this venture. The more prepared you are at the outset, the less overwhelming and chaotic the buying process will be. The goal of this page is to provide you with detailed information to assist you in making an intelligent and informed decision.

The Best Investment

As a fairly general rule, homes appreciate about five percent a year. Some years will be more, some less. The figure will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, and region to region.

Five percent may not seem like that much at first. Stocks (at times) appreciate much more, and you could earn over six percent with the safest investment of all, treasury bonds.

But take a second look…

Presumably, if you bought a $200,000 house, you did not pay cash for the home. You got a mortgage, too. Suppose you put as much as twenty percent down – that would be an investment of $40,000.

At an appreciation rate of 5% annually, a $200,000 home would increase in value $10,000 during the first year. That means you earned $10,000 with an investment of $40,000. Your annual "return on investment" would be a whopping twenty-five percent.

Of course, you are making mortgage payments and paying property taxes, along with a couple of other costs. However, since the interest on your mortgage and your property taxes are both tax deductible, the government is essentially subsidizing your home purchase.

Your rate of return when buying a home is higher than most any other investment you could make.

If you are moving to a home for the first time, you are going to be very pleased with all the new space you have available. You may have to even buy more "stuff."

Choosing an Agent

How to choose a real estate agent

The decision to buy or sell a home is one of the most important financial decisions most people make, yet many give little thought to finding the real estate agent best suited to their needs.

Agents are often chosen solely on the recommendation of a friend or an ad in the newspaper. But choosing the right agent can save you time, effort and aggravation in finding the perfect home at a price you can afford or selling your home quickly for top dollar.

Ask friends for referrals. Friends can give you a starting point, but don't hire an agent solely on a friend's recommendation, says Brenner. Don't choose an agent based on personality alone, but make sure you can get along well.

Choose the broker or real estate agency first, then ask the agency to recommend a couple of their best agents. Then stick with her. If you see a house for sale and call the agent listed on the sign, that agent's first concern will be representing the seller, not you, the buyer. "Sometimes the broker is associated with a franchise, such as Century 21," says author O'Hara. "If you select a franchised broker, you have the advantage of national name recognition and usually a strong national advertising campaign." But beware. "You aren't guaranteed a great agent just because you selected a well-known real estate franchise. You should select a firm based on that office's reputation -- not the reputation of the national firm."

Consider choosing an agent who is a Realtor. In addition to being licensed by the state to sell real estate, Realtors belong to the National Association of Realtors and must abide by a strict Code of Ethics. Brenner says, "The National Association of Realtors has a code of ethics that will knock your socks off, and they are very strict in dealing with people who don't abide by them." Also, only Realtors have access to Multiple Listing Services (MLS) through which members share listings and have access to many more properties than non-members. You can locate a Realtor in your area at www.realtor.com.

Choose an agent that handles homes in your price range. Some agents specialize in high-end properties and won't give their best effort on properties under a set value. If they usually deal in fixer-uppers, they won't have the experience to navigate "Millionaire's Row".

Choose an agent who can and will provide other services. Will they help arrange a house inspection, refer you to qualified lending professionals and real estate attorneys, and conduct a study of the property's value?

Interviewing prospects
The biggest challenge is to find the agent that will work the hardest for you.

"The only way to find the agent that's right for you is to sit down with them and ask questions," Brenner says.

You should interview agents just as though you are hiring them for a job, because you are! And remember that you are doing the agent a favor by giving him your business.

If you're selling, ask prospective agents about their marketing plan for your specific home, emphasizes Mitchell Herman, a Florida Realtor and owner of Flat Rate Realty USA, which offers FSBO sellers the ability to list their home on the MLS through a flat-rate plan.

"As a professional salesman, I interviewed agents who wanted to list my home and I asked them how they would earn their fee. They offered an undefined marketing plan and an MLS listing. That was it," he told Bankrate. "If all a listing agent is offering is an MLS listing, he's not worth the commission."

Whether buying or selling, Purcell advocates interviewing three different agents from three different firms.

"Ask all of them questions -- the same questions so you won't be comparing apples to oranges. Ask them to explain the market place and the market conditions -- who is buying, what price range is moving and why. Then ask them to explain who they are and what makes them different from their competitors. Ask why you should choose them. Then ask about their firm and why their firm is different and why you should choose their firm."