You need to do some heavy lifting prep work before getting on the market for buying or selling a property. Homebuyers need to polish their credit score, fix a budget, and make a list of “must-haves” and “nice-to-haves” for their would-be home.

As for home sellers, staging the home, and doing necessary repairs fall under the to-do list before putting their property out on the market. And of course, both homebuyers and sellers need to pick a good agent or a real estate brokerage in Mississauga who can expertly guide them through this emotionally and financially taxing process.

However, with so many real estate professionals and brokerage firms out there to choose from, it can be difficult to know who you should work with. If only you had a list of specific traits or skills that could guide you while choosing a real estate agent.

There is indeed!

Scroll down below to find the top traits that a good real estate professional or team possesses. If the real estate agent you’re choosing ticks all the boxes (skills), know that you indeed have the best professional by your side.

You want to make sure the real estate professional truly listens to you when you speak. They must be able to remember your first conversation (the one where you share your home-buying or selling goals and expectations) throughout the process.

Otherwise, imagine you telling the real estate agent that you want a single-family home under $1M and the professional recommending condos or other houses way above your budget. Or the professional forcing you to accept a deal when you clearly stated, in the beginning, that you need to sell your home for a much higher price than that.

So, to avoid such confusion during the home-buying or selling process, make sure the agent listens to your wish list and other details attentively during the interview. They should maintain eye contact and shouldn’t abruptly interrupt you while you speak about your buying or selling goals.

You need to select an agent or a real estate brokerage in Mississauga team that knows the local housing market inside and out. To ensure that, see if the market insights or information the real estate professional is sharing during the interview is backed by accurate data. Don’t hesitate to ask questions about your favourite neighbourhoods and see what type of market insights they possess.

86% of real estate clients say that trust is the top quality they consider when selecting an agent or a real estate brokerage team. After all, they will be trusting the professional with probably the biggest purchase or sale of their life.

So, make sure the real estate professional you’re choosing to go ahead with is honest and transparent. If they know that a home that you have fallen in love with is overpriced they should inform you right away. Or in case you’re a home seller, they should present all offers to you even though a buyer is lined up.

To know if the agent is trustworthy and transparent, check review sites for client testimonials. You can also request references from past clients of the agent and follow up with them. Ask about the client’s experience regarding the professional’s honesty and transparency.

When buying or selling a home in the hot Mississauga housing market, time is of the essence. Sometimes, you may have to make a decision in a jiffy or you may end up losing a great deal. So, it would be a great issue if the agent or the real estate brokerage in Mississauga team fails to respond to you on time.

The real estate professional must also be able to explain to you complex real estate concepts, paperwork, and legalities in a clear and concise way. For all these reasons and more, make sure the real estate professional you’re picking has strong communication skills.

Observe if their communication style is clear, concise, and easy to understand. We recommend avoiding real estate agents who use too much jargon or struggle to explain things in a simple way.

Also see how quickly and consistently they respond to your calls, emails, and texts. A good communicator will be readily available to answer your questions and address your needs.

They say the best trait a real estate agent can have is “skilful negotiation”.

A proficient agent or a real estate brokerage team has a good understanding of both the buyer’s and seller’s motives and the opposing agent’s negotiation style. Based on this, they can make a strong offer and counter-offer.

So, make sure the agent you’re hiring has the strong negotiating skills needed to get you a good offer or get your offer accepted. Ask about the past negotiation achievements of the agent or the real estate brokerage in Mississauga. Enquire how often have they gotten home-selling clients their asking price or helped buyers secure deals below the listing price. While past performance isn’t a guarantee of future results, it can be indicative of their negotiation skill.

While buying or selling a home, it’s only a matter of when, not if, an issue shows up. Perhaps a home inspector reveals a big issue with the house you’re buying and you need to re-open the negotiation with the home seller.

Or maybe you’re not getting as many offers in your soon-to-be sold home and you need to change your selling/marketing strategy. Whatever the problem is, you need a real estate agent who can come up with possible solutions to such common challenges in the blink of an eye.

To gauge the problem-solving skills of the real estate brokerage team, ask about any small or big issues they solved during their last 5-6 deals. You can also get in touch with the referred clients and enquire about how the real estate professional handled challenges and hurdles during their transaction.

If you’re a home seller, you may already know that your real estate agent needs to have adept marketing knowledge and skills. Otherwise, how would they get potential buyers for your property, right?

Here is how you can assess the marketing skills of your potential real estate professional -

Check the website and social media profiles of the agent or real estate brokerage in Mississauga - Are they professional and up-to-date and do they showcase their property listings effectively?

Ask to see examples of their marketing materials for past listings - Are the listing photos and videos high-quality? Are the listing post descriptions clear and enticing?

During the interview, discuss their marketing plan for your property - What platforms will they use and what strategies will they employ to target potential buyers/sellers?

Enquire about their use of technology in marketing - Do they use virtual tours, drone photos and videos, or social media marketing?

Hopefully, with the help of this guide, you can pick the best real estate ally for your home-buying or selling journey.