The Colorado Springs Realtor Guide is the most important thing I have written. With that in mind, you might take a minute and read the intro, but if you want to go straight down the rabbit hole:
Buying A House | Selling A House
Why You Should Care
Your home plays a MAJOR factor in your lifetime wealth. Whether buying or selling a home, you need to be in capable hands to ensure you are making smart choices. This guide gives you a framework to understand what makes a great Realtor AND how to interview them. This discussion will apply anywhere, not just Colorado springs. If you read and understand THIS section, you will be able move anywhere in the country and within one interview assess whether you are in capable hands or not.
Realtors Are Not Equal (Not Even Close)
I wrote this guide series for precisely for that reason. The National Association of Realtors spends a lot of marketing dollars trying to convey that we are…but we aren’t. Why? Because there is a low cost of entry, limited standards of professional practice, and VERY little guidance for individual agents. Lots of people get into this business with good intentions, but most of the times without a plan…or skills.
There are literally thousands of Realtors in Colorado Springs and they come in all shapes and sizes. From the consummate professionals that I appreciate working with, to neophytes that allow their clients to wander rudderless through the process, all the way down to (my opinion) complete slime balls. While very few I have run across have obvious ill intentions, the majority I encounter just seem to “have their toe in the water”. They know enough (for the most part) get the job done, but not enough to really add value to their clients process or help their clients if a deal goes sideways. That is where this guide series comes in.
It may sound like I am bashing my fellow Realtors but that is not the case. I just want to make sure at the end of your transaction you feel like the Realtor you hired earned their income and helped you make smart decisions…whoever they are!
Think Twice Before Reading
Before you start reading this, IF you have a favorite Realtor that you like and plan to keep using, you may not want to read this section. Think of this section a like the red pill in The Matrix-“You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
This guide is broken into 2 separate guidebooks: One for working with a buyer agent, one for working with a seller agent. Why? Because while many of the criteria overlap, there are different in skill sets that are required. If you have questions on how Realtors get paid, I answer that here.
Are you ready to go down the rabbit hole?
Buying A House | Selling A House
P.S. For any Realtor’s reading this, PLEASE feel free to read and study this section. In fact, I encourage you to do so! The better (and more professional) our industry is, the better it is for our clients…and us. 🙂