Full-time or Part-time? 

One thing you may want to consider when you are speaking with realtors is, are they full-time or part-time. You want someone who’s going to be available when you’re available and who focuses on this as their full-time profession.

I’m a full-time realtor. My business is actually at the point where I have a full-time associate working with me so that we’re available whenever we’re needed by our clients and we have other team members that we can bring in if we need specialized language skills or other skills that we may not have between the two of us.

You expect a certain level of expertise and focus from a professional you are working with and when you know someone is a full-time realtor you know that they’re going to have that level of focus that you require. 

Can they provide testimonials? 

I think it’s important to choose a realtor who has testimonials and references that they can provide because that’s how you get to know that they’ve actually had clients and that they have been happy working with them. That they’ve got an established track record.

Having been in this industry for over ten years, I’ve got testimonials from a wide variety of clients. I’ve had first time buyers to people moving out of their family home and downsizing. It’s nice to see testimonials from those people saying, “You know what, I worked with Paul and he did a great job for us”. 

 Does their Philosophy and Methods Align with yours? 

I think it’s important to have a realtor whose philosophy and methods align with your own. What I think is critical is that you find someone who fits with your personal values and that you communicate well with. I mean, you need somebody who’s going to listen to what your needs are, understand what your needs are and give you the best advice based on your situation. 

I look at myself more as an advisor and consultant than I do as a sales person. What I will bring to the table is my expertise, I will give you unbiased advice and I’ll make sure the advice I give you is going to be in your best interests. 

Really how we do things is driven by my client’s needs and how they want to do things.