North Shore Views

5 Reasons to Hire a North Shore Agent (if You’re Moving to the North Shore)

This past Sunday was a beautiful spring day here in Wilmette and the open houses were hopping. I held two houses open and the one that is listed for $690,000 had a lot of interest from buyers looking to cash in on the tax credit before the April 30 deadline. Most of them were young families from the city who were looking to make the big move to the suburbs. And several of them mentioned that they were working with a city agent (the same one who had listed or sold their city home) to help them buy their dream home in the suburbs.

Now, I just don’t get that. Whatever agent you use is going to get the same commission. The question is, which one will really earn it?

And the home that you are about to purchase is possibly the biggest and most important investment you will make in your life. So wouldn’t you want the most qualified person you can get to represent you in this transaction? I’m not saying your city agent isn’t a terrific agent. But that agent (in all likelihood) does not know the North Shore market as well as the agents who live and work here.

It would be like me hiring my dog’s veterinarian to operate on me because he did such a great job on my dog. Yes, he is a doctor and yes, he does surgery. But he’s not an expert in the kind of surgery that I need.

Here is why it’s important to hire an agent who specializes in the area in which you plan to buy:

1. She knows the inventory of houses and can better guide you though the process of selecting a home you will be happy with. She can also make the process more efficient for you because her in-depth knowledge of the market enables her to sort through the options quickly, eliminating homes that she knows do not fit your requirements.

2.  As important as the house itself is the community, the neighborhoods, the schools and the amenities. Only an agent from the area can provide the kind of valuable insight that will help you make smart and informed decisions about location.

3. She can easily preview new homes that come on the market and alert you if there is one that is perfect for you. In fact, because of her local network, she will probably know about suitable homes even before they come on the market. That perfect home may be snapped up before your city agent even finds out about it and lets you know.

4. She will be able to provide good local resources you will need both during and after the transaction (inspectors, architects, contractors, decorators, painters,  handymen, etc.).

5. She understands relative property values in the area and why one house is worth more or less than a similar house. She can prepare a comparative market analysis (CMA) that gives you the knowledge and the confidence to successfully negotiate an offer.

Bottom line: a good local agent can help you avoid the two biggest home buying pitfalls: choosing the wrong house  and paying too much for it. And it doesn’t cost you anything.

Tags: hiring an agent, home buying tips, Real estate

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 at 7:22 pm and is filed under Buying a home, Real estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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