18 questions to ask a realtor

The CREB, the Calgary Real Estate Board, published an article with 18 questions you should ask a realtor before hiring. We’ll try to answer these questions for you!

• How long have you been in the business?

Tanja has been a realtor since 2009 and an associate broker since 2018. Ariette has been a realtor since 2010. Since 2011, we have worked full-time as realtors in Calgary. This is a very valid question, but do remember that the number of years a realtor has been in business is not a clear indication of how a realtor will serve you. Further, the number of years a realtor has been in business is not a clear indicator of his/her level of experience. A realtor may have been in business for the last 25 years, but only part-time. Also, nearly half of the 5000+ realtors in Calgary complete only 1 or 2 deals per year.

• Do you have a job other than as a real estate professional?

No, we don’t do have any other job, or other business, apart from real estate. The only other income we have comes from a few rental properties. This is actually an important question. Many realtors have a job on the side. This might impair their experience, knowledge and flexibility, for example, with showings, or correctly answering questions.

• How many buyers did you represent last year?

Since about our 5^th year in real estate, we seem to work with both buyers and sellers on a 50%-50% basis. Many realtors will start out with more buyers than sellers in their first years of being realtors. Not every buyer ends up purchasing a house. Sometimes, buyers change their minds after viewing properties because they can’t yet find their dream home within their budget. Sometimes, buyers decide to move to another city after looking for some time. We will be happy to chat more about our sales numbers during a buying or selling presentation.

• What services will you provide to me?

We are full-time realtors and offer full services. We always like to start with a buying or selling presentation. In this meeting we discuss the process, possible pitfalls, extra costs you may expect etc. This presentation takes about 1 to 2 hours but is a very valuable start. We 100% represent buyers and sellers in their best interests: viewings, negotiations, price evaluations, and marketing (in the case of selling homes). Tanja was a lawyer and crown prosecutor in the Netherlands, giving her a valuable edge in strong negotiations and smooth real estate transactions.

• What geographic areas do you serve?

We mainly work in Calgary. But, over the years, we have also helped buyers and sellers in Canmore, Chestermere, Cochrane, Airdrie, Irricana and the rural Counties of Rocky View and Foothills. Some people still think you are a better realtor when you only serve one community. That was certainly the case when there was no internet available. In the pre-internet days, being the ‘neighborhood-expert‘ was the only way to be in business. Today, with the internet, realtors have all the information available with a click of a button. The MLS and CREB are the most powerful resources for real estate information and statistics. Today, that neighborhood-expert pictured on the bus bench? That is just an advertising opportunity and a marketing tool for agents.

• Do you specialize in certain property types?

We only work in residential, meaning single family homes, condos, townhouses, and country residential. Although Tanja has her license to trade in commercial properties and leases, she does not work in commercial real estate.

• How will you search for my new home?

You tell us your wants, needs, price point, deal breakers etc. for your new home. Your criteria are entered in the back-end of the MLS. Any time a new home is listed that meets your criteria, you receive those listings immediately by email. We take a look at the listings you receive, as well. However, eventually you choose which homes you want to view. We create a route and make appointments to view the homes. One thing we’d like to mention is that we are very patient realtors. We never push you in any direction in which you do not wish to go. And we do not mind if you only need to see 5 homes or 100 homes before you make your decision. We are also very honest and straightforward. We will tell you if we see things in a home that could affect value or re-sale-ability of a house, such as location or layout. And that is where we differ from many realtors! Read our reviews on Google and our website.

• How do you handle multiple offers?

Good question! We follow the rules the way the Calgary Real Estate Board has them laid out. And although those rules are not really open for interpretation, it seems that some agents don’t know or care about them.

• How do you present my offer to the seller?

Once you have signed your offer, we submit it to the selling agent via email. We include any necessary clarification about the offer in that email. Then we call the agent for a further discussion, and from there we negotiate back and forth. We do not see or talk directly to the seller, if the seller is represented by his/her own selling agent. Agency relationship explains this in more detail. Furthermore, the fax machine is gone, and electronic signing has come in its place. Electronic signing reduces stress on many levels during negotiations. For those uncomfortable with electronic signing we still use ink, followed by scanning and submitting the offer via email. Meeting a seller’s agent is rare. For us, that has only occurred once since 2009.

• What are the top three things that separate you from your competition?

1) the fact that Tanja was a crown prosecutor and lawyer in the Netherlands, giving her strong negotiation skills and the experience in actually understanding what it is to work in a client’s best interests.
2) our patience with our clients. We accept your need to see any number of homes before you make your decision to buy. And how many offers to reject is up to you as the seller.
3) our honesty and straightforward communication.

• Are you working as part of a team or will I always deal directly with you?

You will always deal directly with one of us. We alternate showings, if necessary, to make us available quickly to buying clients. Personally, we don’t completely approve of how the large teams work. The one realtor may claim how much business s/he does, but never tell you with how many agents s/he does that many transactions. This seems, to us, a bit deceitful to the public. Further, you may never get to talk with the leading agent of the team, but rather with new agents who may not know how to run a real estate business on their own (yet). Even worse, sometimes clients may mainly deal with a realtor’s assistant.

• How do you get paid?

In the case of helping a client buy a house, we get paid by the seller’s brokerage. So, we are paid indirectly by the sellers who pay the selling brokerage for their services that are provided by, usually, one agent. This is the scenario in more than 99% of the cases. We ask a certain fee for our services as outlined in the service agreement. Since July 2014, these agreements are mandatory for every realtor-client relationship. In the rare instance that a seller’s brokerage does not offer the full commission, we may ask you for the shortfall. This rarely happens, and, as such, we have some alternative ways to deal with this situation. The service agreement also lays out our duties toward you. We never let you sign this service agreement at our first meeting. We go out house hunting with you a few times, and when you decide you like and trust us to work for you, then we ask you to sign this (mandatory) service agreement.

• How much do you charge for your services?

We are happy to answer those questions in a personal conversation. There are some misconceptions about realtor commissions that we would like to clarify in a personal meeting.

• Will you work for me exclusively, not the seller?

That is a choice only you as the buyer can make. We work exclusively for every buyer and seller. However, there might be a very small chance that you find yourself interested in a home that we have personally listed. Then we would be representing both parties, giving us a somewhat limited role. In this situation, the sellers must also agree to this model. We would work impartially for both parties. In a nutshell, what we disclose to you, we disclose to the seller. There are two things we are never allowed to disclose: price and motivation; what you are willing to pay as a buyer, or what the seller is willing to accept; why you are buying, and why the sellers are selling. Much more about this topic can be read in the Consumer Relationship Guide. This is a guide you sign early in the buying process, and it is just like a service agreement, a mandatory document to sign.

• How do you handle conflicts of interest?

This may apply to a few situations. A few examples follow:

-We are selling our own home or the home of a family member.
-You are interested in a home that we have listed.
-You are interested in buying a home, but we have another party interested in the same home.

In all cases we must and will disclose this. Also, in the first two scenarios, you are required to sign an acknowledgement of this. We always explain how any of these scenarios potentially affects you.  That way, you can make an informed decision on your next step. Ultimately, chances of any of these cases happening are extremely slim. But they will be dealt with in a proper way.

• Will you do a property evaluation on the home I want to buy?

Absolutely.  We do property evaluations with buying and selling a home. Eventually, it is your decision as to how much you want to pay for your home. But, at least, you can make that decision in an informed way, with the information we provide you.

 

• How do you keep me informed?

Any way the client(s) prefer(s): by phone, by email or by chat. These days, we often work with What’s App, which works great. In most transactions there are two buyers (or two sellers) involved. Usually, you only talk to one of the two to explain details and answer questions. With What’s App, we are all four in that same conversation. If one person has a question, one of us answers, and both people see the answer. We constantly update clients with any information that is important, as communication is vital in real estate transactions!

• How many clients do you work with at any one time?

That depends on the market, the time of year etc. Most often, we have several buyers actively looking. Because we are both full-time realtors, we take over for each other when necessary. Almost all our clients know both of us. We would venture to say that our turn-around time for a request to view a home is almost always within 24 hours.

These 18 questions might be good to start with. However, we believe there are plenty more questions you can ask. If you are thinking of buying or selling, please get in touch. Coffee and stroopwafels are on us!