If they are not giving you all the facts, YES!  A big part of the concept of our industry is cooperation.  If I have a seller, I want to cooperate with an agent with a buyer for my seller’s property since most buyers are represented.  Likewise, if I represent a buyer, I need the cooperation of the seller’s agent.  I represent my client’s best interests, and the other agent should be representing his or her client’s best interests, but I still find that many are really only after their own interests.  So what’s the point?

You should hire a Realtor® to represent you and your best interest using their expertise in the real estate industry and in real estate transactions.  Sure, you call buy or sell a house yourself, but Realtor®s are here because most people don’t have the time or energy to invest in learning how to market or search for properties, writing and negotiating contracts, how escrow works, how to do a title search, researching market trends.  It seriously is a great time and energy commitment.  Since most people have day jobs, hiring a Realtor® is generally worth it since their knowledge typically brings you 17% more for the sale of your house (easily offsetting their fee).

So what’s up with the market these days?  A Real Estate Agent’s job just got a whole lot tougher.  Everyone and their mamma wanted to buy, sell, flip and invest in 2005 & 2006 so when national news hit that we are in a slump coupled with this election year, naturally things in the real estate market slowed.  Those of us in the industry are battling misconceptions from national news (Austin still has a strong economy with a growth rate of at least 4%/year), fears of paying too much, buyers waiting for exactly the right moment to try to get the best deal, and now other Realtor®s who are not cooperating.

If your Realtor® isn’t giving you all of the information including what to expect from each step in a transaction, RUN, don’t walk to interview other agents to find one with the knowledge you need to stay ahead of the game.  The real estate agents of the 90′s are a dying race now that over 80% of homebuyers start their search online.  We are not the only ones with the information now that the internet is around.  What we do have is experience of transaction after transaction and creativity from working in this industry day in and day out.  Your Realtor® should really be a tougher, stronger negotiating, more experienced in real estate transactions version of yourself.  If you’re a technology lover, hire a technology-loving Realtor® (that’s me).  If you are everyone’s best friend, hire a Realtor® that’s everyone’s best friend (not me).

Just DON’T hire someone who will leave you high and dry, liable to a law suit, and without getting the best deal.  As predominately a seller’s agent, I am always looking for the cooperation of a buyer’s agent to bring me qualified buyers.  That means buyers who are a) actually committed to a home purchase, b) financially qualified to buy the home they are looking at, and c) trusting enough of their agent to let them see the transaction through.

So don’t hire an agent just because they are your cousin’s best friend’s boyfriend or your mother’s boss’s daughter.  Hire them because they are the real estate expert version of yourself, someone you can trust, and someone with all the answers.

These are tough times in the Real Estate Industry, but I believe in survival of the fittest.  This is where I need the help of you, the consumer.  Don’t hire that bad agent and they will find a job that they are more suited for.  Otherwise, you are wasting your own time and the time of all of those who are working hard to make these transactions happen.  Find a good, honest agent and all real estate transactions will run more smoothly with better informed consumers making better deals.

My sellers deserve the best, and I will continue to advise them against screwy offers that will tie up their property, hopes, and time — and only when they are motivated to sell.  My buyers deserve the best, and I will only show them properties they are qualified to buy when they are ready to buy.

If you hated your last real estate transaction, don’t give me the opportunity to say “I told you so” next time!  And I know some of you will know who I’m taking about.