How to pick a real estate agent that suits your needs

Many factors contribute to the experience and success of buying and selling homes, but even in the digital age of a more transparent real estate market, working with a good real estate agent continues to be one of biggest impacts on either side of the transaction.

But how do you pick the right person to represent you or your home?

Before you just start asking your friends or digging through the fliers in your mailbox or hunting online, here are a few dos and don'ts you should seriously consider when selecting an agent.

Do:

Ask people you trust for agent recommendations, but take what they say with a grain of salt. Did they recently buy a home in your same price range? Have they had a successful time selling their home? Just because this agent worked out well for them does not guarantee the same experience for you.

Research. Most real estate websites, including Zillow, have online agent reviews. This can be a good starting place.

Find an agent that specializes in what you're trying to do. Don't select an agent who sells $2 million homes to help you find a $200,000 home. Check out current home listings. Do you like the photos, the description? Try contacting the agent to see if they're available for you.

Interview the agent. What is their specific marketing plan for your home? How will they negotiate so that you can be the winning bidder on your dream home? Why are they the best option for you? Can you call some of their past clients?

Set up expectations. What do you want from them? Outline your needs from the get-go so there won't be any surprises down the road.

Make sure you get along with the agent. You don't need to be best friends, but ultimately there should be some sort of rapport that allows for a successful business relationship.

Don't:

Pick friends or family. You don't want to jeopardize a friendship if the buying or selling process gets difficult. Also, be wary of hiring even a friend of a friend, or someone recommended. If you're serious about real estate, find someone that you can be honest and professional with. Unfortunately, that may not include your cousin or your best friend's spouse.

Pick someone who dually represents the buyer and the seller of the property you're looking at. They may not be able to fully transparent with you.

Be afraid to break up with your agent. Be honest and simply tell the agent it's not working out. List your reasons and be respectful.

If you're not quite ready to be tied down to a particular agent, it's better not to engage one until you've made a formal decision. You can communicate with an agent and ask for advice, but be clear upfront where you stand.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_20260470/how-pick-real-estate-agent-that-suits-your

Foreigners Fuel Florida Real Estate Sales

Forbes magazine recently examined the growing interest by foreigners in Florida real estate investment. Foreign buyers are snapping up properties in South Florida, with many buying in cash. Unlike American buyers who see advantages in making property purchases using borrowed money, foreign buyers who use cash enjoy bigger savings up front and more flexibility in what properties to buy. Americans, on the other hand, see buying property with cash the exchange of one asset for another with no savings acquired through tax incentives like interest deductions. For more on this continue reading the following article from JDSupra.

Forbes Magazine published an article on Valentine's Day entitled "For Miami Real Estate, Better To Be A Foreigner," which explores the huge amount of foreign investor interest in Miami real estate development. It's not a discussion of whether or not international investors are investigating Miami and South Florida real estate: that's a given.

What Forbes' article focuses upon is the fact that one of the key advantages is the Latin American financial model for buying real estate with cash on the table, no long-term financing strategies like America is used to doing.

We've posted about buyers like those arriving in Florida from Brazil being ready to buy condos and other real estate in Miami and elsewhere with cash assets, not borrowed money. Forbes isn't the first national publication to take notice of Florida real estate's growing love affair with foreign investors; however, this article does explain the great advantage of the cash purchasing model.

For new properties, this means significant savings.

Many foreign buyers, particularly those from Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America, pay cash for their Miami real estate - such as an exclusive, ocean front Miami condo. In the "pay as you build" model that is growing in popularity here in South Florida, the foreign investor buys the real estate in a series of cash payments that cover the time span of initial agreement to buy through the construction phase to completion and the exchange of keys.

By doing so, the buyer saves a significant percentage on the price of the purchase when compared to the traditional financing model that U.S. real estate uses. And the seller gets cash on the barrel head.

The "pay as you build" model of real estate investment

Here in the United States, buying real estate with cash sounds strange. After all, there are all those tax incentives (interest deductions, capital gains considerations, etc.) to consider when you've got financing for your real estate purchase. Buy a condo with cash, you're just turning one asset into another form or asset: no big tax breaks there.

Add to that the fact that the banking industry is hurting in Florida and elsewhere, and loans for real estate purchases aren't what they used to be a few years back, and it's obvious that Miami and South Florida would have a very bleak outlook these days without the foreign investment interest.

After all, RealtyTrac has just reported that Florida default notices on home loans increased 36% comparing this year to last year. Florida banking has been damaged by the housing crisis to an unprecedented extent.

Miami has always been known as a global city, a welcoming metropolis to foreign visitors - especially those with Latin American ties. As the Forbes article points out, savvy real estate developers in the Miami area are marketing globally to bring in more and more of those foreign investors.

Not only is this a good thing for Miami and South Florida, it may be an economic lifesaver in today's economy.

Source: http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/foreigners-fuel-florida-real-estate-sales-58764.aspx