Many of you might be thinking that real estate agents are not honest. This is mainly because of the agents you would have selected for your needs. If you select the correct real estate agent, then you will be able to get honest service from them. The problem lies not with the agents but with your ability to figure out the right person. The two common mistakes that most people do when buying or selling their homes is to choose the one who charges the lowest rate of commission and the one who offers the highest valuation to their properties. This is not the right method of selection.If you monitor the local agents for few weeks you will be able to find out those who sell local properties frequently. These people will have good and solid reputation and their approaches will be very honest. You can ask your family, friends and colleagues to refer the correct real estate agent. If you find ?For Sale? signs in your area then you get more details on the agencies. After identifying those agents who already have sold houses similar to yours, then contact them. One tricky method is to approach them as a potential buyer and express interest to buy a property similar to the one you intend to sell. You may have a talk with the staff and find out their approach.

During your first meeting with the real estate agent, you have to ask them some questions. You should be seeing for yourself how the service of the agency is and how welcoming and helpful the staffs are. Also check whether the agency is up to date with the marketing climate existing at present and see whether they can relay the prices of houses and their demands accurately. Whether the agency can communicate the property information with ease and whether they can work well together as a team to help their potential customers can be understood easily with the first interview.

You may inquire them for the types of services they offer. Usually they work on commission based system. You may select the hardworking agent so that you will be able to get the right service at the right time. This will also affect the sale of your property. Usually there are some standard services offered by the real estate agents like free initial visit and property valuation, preparing property marketing details and promoting it, forwarding offers from buyers in writing and negotiating with the buyers on your behalf.

You must be aware of the charges of the real estate agent. Many of them have a fixed price service which may include promotion of your properly online and in local papers.Clarify any doubts if you have at this stage to avoid future troubles and misunderstandings. Doing little research will help you to choose the correct real estate agent.

Many people are victims of this downturn of the economy. Unfortunately, not every homeowner has the luxury to ride out the down turn in the comfort of their own home. To make it worse, it really seams there is no end to this economic downturn in sight, and many real estate websites are saying that it will be months before there is a increase in home values.A property owner does not find themselves having to sell out of the blue, or wake up to a foreclosure auction. There are many warning signals that a property owner has to act upon if they do not want to have to foreclose their home. Because many properties are underwater (loan amount is higher then the house?s true market value), the property owner might not be aware of the coming doom brought forth by a bank auction sale. Normally, a distressed borrower knows that they are in trouble with the property mortgage because they have lost their job, have a divorce, or have some other sort of problematic financial situation. A decrease in house prices is much different, they might not understand their home is worth far less than market value. No matter what, a distressed property owner needs to know how to short sale a home before negotiating with the loan holders, since the banks are not on the side of the borrower.

borrowers have about 10 options if they find that they are owing more on the mortgage then the house is valued and negotiating with the creditors to avoid a bank auction of their property. Normally, a distressed borrower will try to get a loan adjustment. A loan mod will lower the borrowers loan payments while they get to continue to own the property. This is probably the best outcome for both the property owner and the loan holder, yet loan modifications are hard to get done. If you can?t get a loan mod, the next best option will be to short sell your property.

A short sale is when you work with the bank to sell your home for less then what is owned to the bank. You will have to prove that you have a economic hardship, which is quite simple since houses values have been reduced by more than twenty percent in some areas. the short sale process can be very stressful, since the bank, and other creditors have final say over whether the new buyers offer will be accepted. It not uncommon for short sales to last many months, even if the property is priced reasonably.

It is also possible that the home?s value have dropped so much, no buyer will make an offer on the house. In this case, the property will go to a bank action or the property owner returns the property to the lender rather than go through the bank auction process. this is referred to as Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure. Again, a short sale broker will best know how to short sale your home and get the property owner in contact with the proper lawyers, tax advisers, or mortgage professionals.

If a homeowner fails to qualify for the short sale of their property or loan adjustment, they will most likely face foreclosure. There are many websites that make walking away from your mortgage payments and renting is a smart idea but in reality this is not very logical and seriously could affect your life. First of all, your credit score will be reduced by 250 to 350 points and the homeowner will not be able to get another mortgage loan for around 7 years. Secondly, Your neighbors will be affected by the foreclosure sale in the neighborhood and their house values will be decreased. Either way homeowners need to take responsibility and try to find the right solution for their situation. remember, there are about ten options when it comes to fighting a foreclosure.

If you fall into any of the financial situations described above, you really need to think about contacting a short sale broker and talking about your current real estate situation. Remember, if your home is below market value you will probably have a short sale or foreclosure auction to get out of your situation. If that is the case, you will pay no real estate agent fees or agent commissions for short selling your home. The lender or bank is taking a massive loss and since absolutely no homeowner can make money from a foreclosure, you will not have to pay any realtor fees.

Real Estate Agent: Best 7 Questions to ask your prospective Listing AgentSo you’re a home owner who has decided, like about 90% of all home owners, to hire a real estate listing agent to help you sell your house or condo. How do you choose from the thousands of REALTORS in your area? Here are some of the most important questions to ask your prospective Real Estate Listing Agent:

How long have you been in the real estate?

Reason for asking: With the lure of ‘quick and easy money’ (believe me, its NOT), every one with a few spare dollars and some extra time has decided to get into real estate. The joke is that in some States, liquor stores will accept, as forms of identification, your drivers license or your real estate license. I sometimes compare Listing Agents to Restaurants: Out of every 10 that start up, only 1 is still around after 2 years. Answer to look for: Minimum of 4 years experience.

Is this your full-time occupation?

Reason for asking: In many areas, it is NOT a requirement that a Real Estate Listing Agent practice his craft on a full-time basis. While some places, such as my native Winnipeg, DO require that real estate be our ONLY profession, there are many places where your Real Estate Listing Agent could work on your file during the day, and then serve your meals at the local diner at night. Answer to look for: YES! Don’t list with a REALTOR who might have to choose between showing your home and picking up an extra shift at the local Piggly-Wiggly for some fast cash.

Where do you advertise my home?

Reason for asking: Nearly every Real Estate Listing Agent uses the MLS. Its an efective way of getting your home noticed by buyers and other agents. But its not the ONLY way. Recent studies show that around 87% of home buyers start their search on the internet. So the answer you should be looking for includes not only the MLS, but effective internet presence.

Do you have a website?

Reason for asking: This goes hand-in-hand with the previous question. With such a high percentage of buyers looking on the internet, your Listing Agent should have an effective website. I’m constantly amazed at how many REALTORS don’t even have a simple site, let along a professionally managed, search engine optimized site. Answer to look for here is an absolute YES, with some explanation of how effective the site is, Google ranking, Alexa ranking etc

If something goes wrong, who will I be dealing with?

Reason for asking: Many a Real Estate Listing Agent runs a ‘team’, and the only time you’ll actually be dealing with him is during your initial interview. And trust me…something WILL go wrong. Perhaps as little as spelling mistakes or poor picture quality in your listing, or it could be more significant such as the wrong price shown in the listing. Or perhaps you’ll just have some questions about feedback from the last showing. In all likleyhood, you will want to talk to someone about your listing, so make sure that you know who you will be dealing with. the preferred answer here : “If any issues come up, you call ME directly anytime. You’re NOT going to be talking with my secretary, my assistant or my butler…. here is my cell number, it goes directly to ME”.

How many properties do you sell in a year?

Reason for asking: goes to experience. Find you how many homes the average real estate listing agent in your town or city sells and then compare. Answer to look for: Average is ok, but more experience is better. On the opposite end of the scale, if your prospective listing agent always carries in excess of 15 or 20 listings, how much time will he or she have to work on your home? Look for a nice balance.