Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Loomis, Granite Bay - Placer County, California - Real Estate Blog - Souza Realty

Why Should I Hire A Real Estate Specialist For Short Sales, Investments, Foreclosures or Land? Aren't All Real Estate Agents The Same?

No matter which field of real estate your needs may be at any given time, you should consult with (and hire) a real estate agent who specializes in that field. You would go to a dermatologist if you had a skin condition, so why wouldn't you choose your real estate agent based on their specialty?

Short Sale Specialist

If you are contemplating doing a short sale on your home, hire an agent or team that specializes in short sales. Talk to several agents and compare their resumes - how many current short sale listings they have, how many short sales have they closed (and have not closed!) in the past year, etc.

TIP: Ask for an MLS printout of their past year transaction history, so you can see their active, contingent, pending, sold, expired and withdrawn/canceled listings. This will give you an idea of their actual short sale success rate and this transaction list can be easily printed from the MLS. Comparing the number of "sold" listings with the number of "withdrawn/canceled" listings will tell all.

Investment Specialist

If you are interested in purchasing investment real estate, hire an agent who also buys real estate investments...preferably the same type of property you are looking for (e.g. single-family homes, land, condos, fourplexes, commercial, etc.) and in the same area you are looking at.

TIP: Ask for their opinion on what the monthly rent would be for the property you're interested in. Even better, ask them to calculate an estimated cap rate for you. If it's only for one property, this shouldn't be a big deal...but in all fairness, be prepared to HIRE an agent if you would like them to do more work for you.

Foreclosure Specialist

If you want to buy foreclosure properties at trustee's sales, hire an agent who purchases property at trustee sale auctions or simply go about it yourself. Most agents who do not buy property at trustee sales will not have the proper knowledge to guide you through this risky process and they wouldn't have any information to offer you that you wouldn't be able to obtain by doing the research yourself.

TIP: Agents won't get paid a commission from the seller for doing a trustee's sale purchase, so expect to compensate them for their assistance. If you list the property with them when it's ready to sell, you may be willing to negotiate better terms than if you hire another listing agent.

Land Specialist

If you are thinking of buying land and building a home, there's no better qualified agent than one who has personal experience doing this themselves. Any real estate agent can pull up land listings from the MLS, but can they guide you intelligently through the lot selection, plans, permits, building process and perhaps even pre-construction marketing if it is a spec home?

TIP: If you can find an experienced land broker who also has recently built a home, you'll be much better off than working with someone who has only one experience in their resume. Ask for a list of lots they have listed and sold, as well as the types of properties they have developed, where they are located and when they were completed and (if applicable) sold.

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The bottom line is that anyone who passes the state real estate exam and pays the licensing fee can call themselves a real estate agent. Those who pay local, state and national dues for a REALTOR membership can call themselves REALTORS.

However...it takes EXPERIENCE in any given real estate field (such as short sales, investments, foreclosures or land) to have the EXPERTISE that buyers and sellers are looking for.