How to select a good property agent?

Nowadays, property agent plays the important role in in helping you to buy or sell property. There are several benefits of using a real estate agent to sell your property such as more buyer exposure, speeds up time to close deal and better home presentations. Nevertheless, there are number of complaints and bad experiences of sellers when they deal with bad property agent. According to The Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Malaysia (BOVAEA), fraud is rampant in this industry by those not registered as an Agent or a Real Estate Negotiator. If you have been cheated by one, find out how to lodge a complaint against a property agent.

Property Agent? Is your property agent a good agent?

1. Verify the identity of the property agent.

You should protect yourself by asking the property agent to show you the tag for verification as BOVAEA has implemented a new tag identification system in year 2014. The tag contains a QR code that verifies that person’s qualifications when scanned. So, you are able to differentiate the true real estate agent from the unregistered real estate agents. Besides, you can also check the identity of the real estate broker by fill up their full name through this link. Bear in mind, if you engage a registered agent, you are protected under the Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Act because there is a recourse in law to protect yourself and your investment.

2. Agent must know that area inside out

A basic criterion for a good agent is that he or she must know that area and properties around inside out, such as different blocks and development, number of units, type of unit, traffic and others. A good agent should be able to propose at least a few units from different projects based on your requirements. Based on what the agent suggested, you should be able to tell whether he is helping you to solve your problem, or just dumping any units at you and earn his commissions. For example, if you are a student with no own transport looking for a room, if he or she only show you rooms with limited or no public transport available, you should know it is time to look for another agent.

3. Be your market adviser

Good agent is not just a middleman that shows the property to buyer/tenant and collect commission. A good agent possess the knowledge of overall market condition, trend of pricing (both selling price and rental), supply and demand around that area and be an adviser to his client.

If you are the landlord, you want that agent able to advise you on what’s the market rate of the property (either selling price or rental), how many units are available in the market , how long it takes to sell/rent out the unit, etc. Such market intelligence is important for you to decide on the selling price and rental rate, whether you want to hold on a little, or sell/rent it out at the first offer.

4. Network of the real estate broker

A good property agent can build a good relationship with other negotiators and prospective buyers. He has easy access to all the properties listed by other agents and able to get a deal together by cooperating. Therefore, he can track down the property that meets your criteria and contact the seller’s agent to make appointment for viewing easily. In addition, a good property agent with wide social network can have a prospective buyers list for your property. He knows how to utilise his network to work with other agents if that sells your property faster.

5. Deal with well-established and branded property agency.

It is recommended to deal with real estate negotiator from well-established and branded property agency, whether small or large. In this modern age of social networking, website and other methods of instant communication, you can easily learn more about the branded and reputable property agency from recommendation of others. Dealing with the well-established property agency is safer as most of the property agents have went through training and tests before they qualify as property agent. Besides this, well-established property agencies are usually more concern about building a profitable and long term relationship with customers, therefore the property agents from reputable property agency need to perform well according to their agency requirements in order to protect the reputation.

            Well, beside these tips, do you have any tips on selecting a good property agent to share with us? Kindly leave a comment. A good property agent who has your interest in his heart is the one who will help you to find your dream house! If you wish to know more about property agents in Malaysia, you can find them in our webpage. You can also find out more on lawyers and law firms to get a clearer picture on a good property deal.