How to communicate with your realtor

Communication between you and your realtor is essential. Also some of the most heard complaints are that realtors don’t call back, do not update clients or that clients don’t see their realtor again once they have signed the listing contract.
Both buying and selling a home are fairly big events in many peoples’ lives. More often than not there will be stress as well. Chances are likely, you will be communicating a lot with your realtor. For that reason, you should work with a realtor you like and feel comfortable with. Here some of our thoughts about how to communicate with your realtor.

The basics of communications

Your realtor should listen to your needs and goals when you are buying or selling real estate. This means that when you are buying a home, you should only see homes that are within your criteria. When selling your home, this should translate into an effective process, where the realtor has to be “on the ball”.

Regular updates from your realtor

As a seller it is important to be updated during the process. If you are listing your home, we offer you a weekly report with statistics on how many emails were sent out to potential home buyers. Many buyers are on something we call auto notification. As soon as a home is listed, within your search criteria, you receive the listing via email, within around an hour. We can exactly read how many of those are sent out and how many are read.
As a buyer you also need to know about the next step in the process.

Feedback from other realtors

Feedback from other realtors who show your home to potential buyers is important. Realtors are not obligated to give feedback, but it should certainly be asked for. Especially in the beginning weeks it may give you a helpful picture of the things that prevent purchasers from buying your home. And sometimes those are things you can still correct.

Communicating with third parties

Often realtors are also in touch with your mortgage lender, your real estate lawyer, your home inspector and so on. Although realtors cannot give advice or decide on anything for you, s/he will be keeping a close eye on other parties who are involved in the real estate process. And you should be updated if something comes up.

Email is still communicating

These days, much communication goes by email. There is nothing wrong with that. We all have busy lives and emails can be read when you have a free moment. Sometimes emailing goes quicker especially when you have to be notified about something. Overall, email may actually speed up the process by sending documents back and forth. And these days you can buy or sell a home while vacationing. Trust us, more than once transactions were closed while clients were holidaying outside Canada.

Text messages are quick

These days, many showings are arranged via text messages. They are short and quick and all you need is a confirmation of a certain time and day. Ten minutes late for a showing? A quick text will update your clients.

The many ways of these days

Last but not least, a realtor should interact in the manner you prefer. Whether phoning, emailing, texting, or via What’s App or Facebook, it does not matter, as long as your realtor updates you on important things and gets back to you in a decent time frame.

Please note: The above is general information and not considered legal advice. We do our best to write informative articles about real estate in Calgary, Alberta. If you have any questions or concerns about our comments, please feel free to contact us or speak to your legal advisor.