There are a lot of points that one must consider when selecting a real estate agent to sell your property. If you are a new investor, you may not realize that a close bond is known to have developed between an investor and a real estate agent. You will be working closely and often daily with your estate agent discussing topics that are close to your financial future.

Personality

As a new investor you might wonder, ‘Who cares about Personality?’ We are only concerned with business, profitability and getting the best deal? Right?’. Wrong! But the simple fact of the matter is that real estate is a lot more than profit and there is much more that a real estate agent does than just help you make more money. Making money is obviously important but really is that all you want your estate agent to do? You would not marry someone just because they had money would you?!

In this business, it makes a huge difference whom you work with. Working with the wrong person can make you repent and make you wish that you never got involved in real estate! When selecting a real estate agent, try and have a discussion before making a decision. Ask them qualifying questions about their ability to help you find, fix, flip and make a neat profit. Also try and determine if their personalities are amenable to that of yours. Do take some time, have a lot of conversations and remember that do not have to take a call immediately. If you take a decision too fast, you might regret it later.

Busy or Not Busy

Also consider whether you would like to associate with a real estate agent who is busy all of the time or who has plenty of time to help you. Well actually you should definitely be associating with someone who is busy. Because as the saying goes, “If you want to get things done, a busy person is the best person to do it.” Apart from that, I would also add the word, ‘organized’ to the list of desirable qualities that you should seek in a real estate broker. You should ideally be associating with someone who is busy enough to get you the best deals but has the time to take your calls and listen attentively and at the same time responds to your needs in an efficient manner. You will be able to see whether the agent is busy and organised by the manner in which they communicate to you and the manner in which they respond to your calls right at the beginning of a relationship. If they have all the time in the world to talk to you and most of their talk does not revolve around business they are not that busy. If they have trouble locating your property and do not have enough knowledge about their areas then they are definitely not organised enough at work. A really good and smart real estate agent must be clued in to the digital world including the knowledge to trawl the internet, social media networks and also be smart enough to adopt and use the latest softwares and technologies including softwares, apps and smartphones. If your agent on first impression does not have a working knowledge of English which is the world’s foremost global language of business and communication and if he / she uses one of those age old phones that were in use before the smartphone era, these are instant red alerts!

Experienced or New

Working with an upstart agent or a never-heard-before real estate agency may give you the feeling that you are getting better service and personal attention. The agents may be more enthusiastic but a new estate agent cannot give you the benefits that the years of mistakes, contacts and the requisite talent and knowledge base that an older real estate agency can give you. Because to put it simply, there is no better teacher in life than experience.

An experienced real estate agent will give you the benefit of their costly mistakes from the past. Expertise is very important when it comes to your entire real estate investment portfolio. There are a lot of things that come into consideration and an experienced real estate agent is well equipped to provide you that expertise. This could be anything ranging from putting in protective clause in contracts, tricks in negotiations, handling difficult lenders, contractors and title holders, buyers, and most of all, other agents. Expertise can only be developed with experience. 

Areas to Invest

When it comes to making a worthwhile real estate investment that will pay off you have to decide the ideal area that you must invest. The best choice should be for you to invest close to where you currently reside. In most cases, this proximity is the best place to invest your money and also the best place to find your real estate agent. So for example if you decide that you want to invest in Bandra or Andheri, then the best thing would be to zone in on real estate agents in Bandra or real estate agents in Andheri. There are certain cases whereby you might want to invest in an area that is located away from where you currently live. Irrespective of where you choose to invest, your real estate agent must surely be working in the area where you want to invest. Do not fall for the agent who insists that they work in all places. Like a real estate agent from South Mumbai who also says that he works in Andheri! Is that humanly possible? No!

Please keep the following few factors in mind to help you determine where you must invest in real estate:

  1. Proximity to your residence.
  2. Proximity to high density areas of labour and workforce
  3. The Price range of the properties
  4. The largest concentration of properties that fall within your budget
  5. How quickly the properties sell in that area.
  6. The likelihood of vandalism and gundagiri in your target area
  7. Profit potential for your target price range and area.

Remember that it does not make much sense in complicating your life when you are investing. For example if you have to ask your partner or an employee from your company to drive a sixty kilometres every day to where you have made your new investment in order to supervise work, it doesnt make much sense. It also does not make sense to invest in a property that costs upwards of 10 Cr. in an area that does not have too many similar properties in that range. Similarly it would also not make much sense to look for distressed sale of properties in areas that have very few of them.

Please keep following our blog for more information and advice on real estate investing. And do not hesitate to contact us should the requirement for a real estate adviser arise from your side. The number to call is 9820 607875.

Chloe Dodd
Chloe Dodd
Real Estate Agent at Gupta & Sen
Chloe is a real estate advisor with Gupta & Sen. With a combined experience of over 15 years in varied industries, she is a vocal and knowledgeable ally for buyers and investors who want to make informed choices when buying a property in India. With superlative communication and marketing skills, Chloe handles our PR, real estate marketing strategy and client management.
Chloe Dodd
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