When you google something like “homes for sale in…”or “real estate agents in…”you will find the first several pages of hits are probably not agents or brokers actually working in the area you are interested in.

Who are they? Aggregators,companies that specialize in capturing your contact information and selling it to agents for a large fee. My learned associate,Teresa Boardman just wrote an article about these companies and her experiences acting as if she were a buyer. It makes fine reading,see it here. She also gives some good tips about how to find an agent without resorting to these companies. Most important is to find out does the agent actually have any experience doing business in the area you are looking to live in,or you have a home for sale in.

Here in the sun city neighborhood,I see for sale signs from companies 50 miles away. That is a LOOOONG WAAY AWAY in a metropolitan area. Do you believe the agent is working the home effectively? Do you think the agent is there after every monsoon storm? Not only do I doubt it,I know most of them do not check vacants in the absence of the owner.

If you are a buyer,will the agent who is not intimately familiar with the neighborhood able to tell you about the jet noise,the railroad noise,the busy streets and traffic patterns? Are these important? You bet.

ALWAYS do your homework and select a local agent with whom you are comfortable. Be sure the agent has the local knowledge you need,and will tell you the bad as well as the good about any property you look at.

Jim Little,Your Sun City REALTOR® [contact-form 404 "Not Found"]