If you’ve never bought or sold a house before, you may go with the first real estate agent you find.  In some cases, this works out okay.  The agent understands your needs enough to help you find the house you’re looking for or to market your house in such a way that it sells without too much trouble or gets close enough to your asking price that you’re satisfied.  However, if it’s not a good fit, you’ll find yourself stressing over the entire process.  That’s why it’s important to pick a really good real estate agent.  You want someone who has all of the experience necessary to find you the house of your dreams, but also gets your personality and understands all of your different needs.

agentsYou need an agent who knows the area and the houses in it.  Some real estate agents try to cover a large area or the entire city, and that may be fine for some people.  However, if you’re looking for a specific type of house or want to live in a certain area, you want a realtor with knowledge in that area.  Some realtors focus on historic properties, for example, while others focus on certain neighborhoods.

If you’re a member of the LGBTQ community, you may feel more comfortable with a gay or lesbian realtor.  In addition to the comfort level, these realtors will most likely understand the local gay community.  They will be able to tell you about businesses and schools that are known to be gay-friendly in addition to helping you find the perfect house.  This type of information is very helpful, and a good real estate agent will be able to get a good idea of what information is relevant to you and your needs.  You can easily find gay-friendly real estate agents at www.GayRealEstate.com.

When selling your house, you want an agent with an eye for detail and a creative spark.  You want someone who can critically look at your house and point out areas that may impact the selling price.  You also want a realtor who will be completely honest with you—some might simply agree with whatever price you want to use as the listing price, but a really good realtor will tell you when that price is too high or too low.  They will also have tangible reasons for why the price needs to be adjusted.  They might have some great ideas for ways of changing your home, too, which is where the creativeness comes in.  You want to find a realtor who can suggest a few low-cost makeover tips that will bump up your asking price considerably.

In the end, the most important things are that you find a realtor who you feel like represents your best interests and understands your needs.  If you do, you’ll be able to find your dream home and sell your house for what you want.