Buyers and sellers tend to have a long list of demands when it comes to real estate transactions, and so they should. After all, the buying and selling process can be pretty complex, so anything that can streamline the process would be welcomed. The way real estate agents conduct themselves and handle situations can make a huge difference between a smooth transaction and a frustrating one.

Here are some important things that buyers and sellers expect from their agents.

Immediate Response

Clients expect an immediate response from their agents. They want their agents to answer their phones when they call, or at least respond to a voice mail within minutes. They also want quick responses to their texts and emails. If they have to wait too long to get a reply, they just might be impatient enough to call another agent to have their questions answered.

Experience

Those looking get into the real estate market are in need of an expert, which is why they hired a real estate agent to tackle this job for them. They are relying on an experienced agent to understand the current market, find them the perfect home (for buyers), use various platforms to widely market their home (for sellers), and negotiate a fantastic price.

Proven Results

Buyers and sellers want to work with agents who have plenty of transactions under their belts. Sellers want agents with a long track record of selling homes for as close to listing price as possible, and within a short time frame. Buyers want agents who’ve been successful at finding homes in the area they are looking in. The more transactions real estate agents have been a part of, the better able they will be to handle various situations.

Professionalism

The way agents present themselves makes a world of difference in how professional their clients perceive them to be. Clients expect their agents to dress the part: real estate agents should be well-groomed and appropriately dressed. Respect of others’ time also shows a certain level of professionalism; nobody wants an agent who is perpetually late for appointments.

Negotiation Skills

Buyers want a good deal on a home, and sellers want the most money on the table. Whichever side of the coin agents are working on, their clients expect them to express strong negotiating skills at the table. Real estate agents represent the voices of their clients, and should know what to say at the negotiating table, and when to say it to show their clients’ the money.

Use of Technology

Agents who solely depend on their phones to communicate or the newspaper to advertise listings are not what today’s buyers and sellers want. These days, it’s expected that agents use every form of innovative technology for communication and marketing purposes. Technology helps real estate agents to be more efficient and successful in buying and selling homes, and that’s precisely what clients want.

Honesty

Agents are required by law to be honest with their clients – it’s actually a part of the National Association of Realtors® Code of Ethics. Buyers want their agents to point out potential defects in a home, and sellers expect their agents to be honest about what might turn buyers off. Forget about false promises and sugar-coating; clients want full honesty and the confidence to rely on their agents’ word.

Network of Connections

There is so much that goes in the world of real estate that plenty of other professions need to be a part of it to make it all work. Mortgage specialists, home stagers, contractors, interior designers, lawyers, home inspectors, and movers can all come into play at some point along the way. Buyers and sellers want their agents to be able to suggest one of these professionals that they’ve worked with before rather than having to find one on their own.

Marketing Plan

It’s not enough to rely only on a For Sale sign on the front lawn to market a property. Real estate agents need to have a comprehensive marketing plan to get as many eyes on their listings as possible. Newspaper ads, websites, blogs, and social media profiles all have a hand in attracting attention. Sellers want their homes sold quickly, and the more far-reaching tactics their agents use, the greater the chances of this happening.

The most successful real estate agents possess each and every one of these traits. Whether you’re buying or selling, you should expect nothing less than these qualities in order to get the results you want in a time-efficient manner. Professional agents aim to please their clients and provide them with the best experiences. If these are the things clients want, their agents are more than happy to offer them.

Every industry – including real estate – can benefit immensely from big data. These massive data sets have long been used in the financial and healthcare industries with great success, providing invaluable information about human behavior and interactions, as well as critical patterns and trends among consumers.

Big data involves the large volume of information that businesses gather every day. While there is a humungous amount of data that is constantly coming in, that’s not necessary the crucial part: instead, it’s what businesses do with this vital information that’s important. Big data can be carefully analyzed to make better decisions and take strategic action.

The real estate industry has now embraced big data to provide the real estate industry with relevant insight into consumer behavior within the industry. It’s changed the way real estate professionals, buyers, sellers, and lenders approach real estate transactions.

Here are some ways that big data has impacted the real estate industry.

Simplifying the Appraisal Process

Appraisals are an integral part of the real estate process, and as such, real estate professionals must deal with appraisals all the time. Lenders depend on the valuation of properties that their appraisers provide them with before they determine whether or not a loan can be approved. Financing is typically not approved by lenders if the property’s value is deemed to be less than the loan amount requested.

For many neighborhoods, the appraisal process is rather straightforward. With many homes in subdivisions featuring very similar traits, and with the plethora of recent sales to look at, appraisers are much better able to come up with an accurate value for a property.

However, there are plenty of other circumstances where appraisals have been complicated and difficult. With so many factors to rely on which can often be inaccurate, sometimes appraisals might not be entirely on point.

In these cases, big data has helped simplify the process of appraising and pricing properties. While there is often plenty of information about how much similar properties recently sold for, big data has helped greatly reduce any gaps as far as errors and omissions are concerned.

Improving the Financing Process

Big data has been helping the real estate sector make much more sound financial decisions. Real estate professionals can use big data to learn about owners’ financial health, and how much of a risk they would be to take on additional financing. This information can also be used to determine the integrity of a building structure, and whether or not recent improvements have been made on it.

These key pieces of information can assist real estate professionals in determining risk levels for specific buyers, sellers, and even communities as a whole. Such information is also vital for helping investors and developers make smart investment decisions. 

Identifying Future Trends

Buyers want to know whether or not a community they are buying into is primed for growth in value in the future. Nobody ever has the intention of purchasing property in an area that’s headed for decline. Whether it’s a first-time homebuyer or a seasoned investor, knowing what the building will be worth over the short- and long-term is extremely important.

Big data has helped plenty of buyers gain insight into where property values in a particular area are headed. Thanks to innovative real estate investor software programs, buyers have been given the opportunity to predict the future values of properties they intend to purchase. Such information can help guide buyers in the right direction, and avoid areas that show little promise, thereby maximizing equity and profits.

Improving Building Management

Managing a building can be an in-depth and tedious process. Luckily, big data has been able to help simplify and streamline this endeavor. From identifying issues, to speeding up repairs, to slashing expenses, big data can make the management of a building much more efficient and effective.

Any data that is collected on equipment within a structure can be fed into an algorithm to determine how every component within the space is functioning. As soon as a deficiency is identified, a work order to fix the issue will be immediately generated. With much smarter buildings, it’s possible to significantly cut down on waste and spending.

Big data is certainly transforming the face of real estate. While it may be a costly investment up front, big data systems can make the job of real estate professionals much more effective and efficient, and provide buyers and sellers with helpful information to make better decisions.

The majority of Americans out there who are buying homes will have to assume a huge debt in the form of a mortgage. Considering the magnitude of this type of loan, you definitely want to make sure you’re making the best decision before you take it on.

First-time homebuyers who’ve never navigated the real estate and mortgage waters before should do their homework on mortgages, and have a solid grasp on their finances.

One thing’s for sure – a mortgage is something you don’t want to mess around with. But at the same time, the unfamiliarity of the home loan realm shouldn’t scare you off. With the right information, you can get an affordable home that’s right for you, your family and your finances.

If you go into the process armed with all the necessary information, you should come out unscathed. Having said that, here are some of the more common mortgage mistakes that first-time homebuyers make that you should be aware of so you don’t fall prey to them yourself.

Not Getting a Copy of Your Credit Report

Do you know what your current credit score is? If not, you’d better find out before you even start thinking of buying. If your credit is in good standing, great. If not, you need to find out why, and take steps to improve it. But you’re not going to know either way if you don’t request a copy of your credit report from one of the three major credit bureaus in the US.

You can easily obtain a copy of this report for free every 12 months. When you get it, make sure to look it over carefully to see if there are any mistakes on it that could be bringing your credit score down. If there are any errors, you can request to have an investigation opened. Even one incorrect delinquency can shave many points off your overall credit score.

If the delinquencies documented are legitimate, and your score has been negatively affected by them, do what’s necessary to bring that score back up. Pay your bills on time, get rid of high-interest credit card debt first, and avoid making any further purchases on credit (such as a car loan). If you don’t make an effort to improve your credit score, you could be stuck with a very high-interest rate on your mortgage, or may have your mortgage application denied completely.

Looking For a Home Before Your Get Pre-Approved For a Mortgage

Before you start pounding the pavement searching for the perfect abode, you should get pre-approved for a mortgage first. It’ll do you no good to agree to purchase a home at a listing price of $400,000 when you can realistically only afford a home worth $300,000. You’ll be left sorely disappointed if your offer is accepted, only to find out you can’t get a mortgage to finance it.

Your mortgage specialist will assess your financials and determine how much you can comfortably afford based your income and the amount of debt you have. At this point, you’ll be informed of roughly how much you can afford. Armed with this information, you and your real estate agent will be able to narrow down the homes that meet your criteria. This will avoid wasting your time and that of the sellers, and will prevent you from any setbacks.

Keep in mind that a pre-approval letter will come in handy when you are competing with other buyers for the same home. If another buyer is pre-approved and you’re not, the seller may overlook your offer. Many sellers won’t even consider offers that come from buyers who are not pre-approved for a mortgage, even if there are no other buyers in the picture.

Failing to Understand the Terms of Your Mortgage

The amount of your home loan and the interest rate attached to it are obviously important things to know about your mortgage, but there are other things you should also learn about it before you seal the deal. Is your rate fixed or adjustable? Can the rate change at any point during the life of the mortgage? How long is the term of your mortgage? Are you allowed to put more money towards your mortgage at any point? What are the fees associated with breaking your mortgage early?

There are plenty of questions that you should ask your mortgage specialist so that you fully understand everything about your home loan. Make sure not to sign anything until you’re totally in-the-know.

Allowing Yourself to Go ‘House Poor’

While you want to be able to put as much towards your down payment as possible, you also don’t want to drain your life’s savings. Putting at least 20% towards the purchase price will allow you to avoid paying Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) and will lessen the loan amount. These are both obviously good things, but not at the expense of leaving you with next to nothing.

Further, you need to be careful about how much of a mortgage you actually take out. Even if you’re pre-approved for a maximum of $300,000, for instance, that doesn’t mean you should take that much out. Making a commitment to contribute a huge chunk of your income to mortgage payments will leave you with little at the end of each month. There are many other expenses that you need to cover, including utilities, property taxes, homeowners insurance, and HOA fees.

You need to have a social life too, which costs money. You don’t want to be stuck at home doing nothing simply because you barely have any leftover cash to enjoy yourself.

Not Comparing Mortgages

Many homebuyers – especially the newbies – get lured into locking into a mortgage because of a really low interest rate. While a low rate is great, there are also other fees that need to be taken into consideration. Many times these fees can end up making a lower-interest mortgage more expensive.

To prevent getting sucked into this trap, make sure you compare mortgages by more than just the interest rate. Instead, compare home loans by the annual percentage rate (APR), which combines the interest rate with closing costs and other fees. This will allow you to make a more accurate comparison so you can make a more informed decision on which mortgage to go with that will cost you less money in the long run.

The Bottom Line

Never sign anything unless you’ve done your homework first. That advice is gold for just about anything in life, especially when big money is on the line.

There’s no one easy equation to use to determine exactly how much a home renovation will cost. You can’t just multiply a specific unit price and multiply it by the square footage of the area you plan to remodel.

It’s very easy to go way over budget when you’re in the middle of a project, but that’s usually because certain steps weren’t taken beforehand, and no contingencies were accounted for.

While there’s no fool-proof way of making 100% certain that you won’t go over budget, the following steps can help ensure you stay as close to it as possible.

Hire the Right Contractor

Don’t hire the first contractor you talk to, no matter how great they may sound. When it comes to home construction, it’s always best to get at least three quotes from different contractors so you can compare their price, professionalism, and what they offer.

While the price is obviously an important factor to consider, it shouldn’t be the only one. It might be tempting to go with the cheapest quote, but you need to be careful if the price is too low. It might just be that you’re getting a discount by sacrificing the quality of work or building materials.

Ideally, the contractor you hire should provide you with a price for the project based on a very detailed, line-by-line estimate of every item and associated charge. This can include anything from the price for large items like the kitchen cabinets or hardwood floor planks, to smaller components such as the price of each light fixture or door handles. The more detailed the estimate, the better at helping you understand exactly how much you’ll be spending at the end of the day.

Plan Out Your Project in Great Detail

Your contractor should be able to establish a step-by-step plan for your project. This will help you understand how much you’ll need to put into your overall budget, and how that money will be spent at various intervals of the project.

The more detailed your plan, the more prepared you will be for all the incoming expenses related to getting the job done. Make sure all the necessary decisions are made from the get-go so you don’t wind up making last-minute decisions that could blow your budget.

Whether it’s the floor tiles, backsplash, plumbing fixtures, trim, sink, countertop, or any other component, they should be decided upon before your plan is solidified. Every single cost that’s not accounted for at the planning stage will only creep up on you and end up costing you more than what you initially anticipated.

Making last-minute decisions during the project can be stressful. Instead, have your contractor and/or architect draft a detailed set of drawings and set of events and make all of the important decisions before construction starts.

Don’t Stray From Your Plan

Once the plan has been mapped out, don’t change your mind. Even if you’re tempted to do so, resist the urge. Ideally, you would have given yourself enough time to make all the right decisions before construction. Preparing and sticking to your plan is the best way to keep your budget on track.

Your budget will definitely suffer if you start thinking about tacking on other little projects here and there. After all, you’re in the middle of construction, so you might as well add this and fix that, right?

Wrong. As soon as you start that line of thinking, you’ll be adding in a few extra hundred bucks here and there, which will definitely add up. Remember the plan you made up at the beginning, and stick to it.

Focus on Features Most Important to You (and Be Open to Cutting Corners on Others)

Write out a detailed list of all the things that are of greatest importance to you and can’t be negotiated. That could be granite counters in the kitchen, thick hardwood floor planks in the living room, or detailed crown molding in the dining area. When you’re coming up with a budget, allocate the necessary funds to these specific items that you’re simply unable to go without. All other features can be negotiated or even skimped on to suit your budget. Basically, your primary objectives should influence your monetary decisions.

Distinguish Every Component to Be Paid For

Homeowners have a tendency to identify and price out only the largest, most obvious pieces in the overall cost of construction, such as kitchen cabinets or marble floor slabs. But there are other costs that need to be accounted for, such as permits, decor, furniture, and even shipping fees.

Right from the start, identify every single cost of the project and place a price value beside each. You wouldn’t be too pleased if you finished the project only to realize you have no money left for clean-up or furnishings.

Pad Your Budget With a Contingency

Once you’ve calculated the final figure for the overall cost of your renovation project, tack on another 10% to 15%. While the above steps will help to make sure to stick closely to your budget, anything can happen. You might rip out drywall only to discover shoddy electrical work or asbestos. Unpleasant surprises like these will mean additional work and costs will be needed.

To make sure you’ve got the funds to cover these additional costs, adding a contingency to your budget will help a great deal. If you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t stumble upon any surprises, you can use that extra cash to add something a little extra. Or else, throw it in the bank and sit on it.

The Bottom Line

Staying on budget means taking the time and effort to find the right professionals, being very specific and detailed about the work involved and cost associated with it, and remaining compliant with the original plan. Determining the realistic cost of the project and making sure you don’t go over budget is a fine art, but it’s doable for anyone willing to put forth the effort.