What do Clients Expect from a Real Estate Agent

Aug 18, 2022 | Agent Sponsorship

There really isn’t anything more important for a real estate agent to understand than what their clients expect from them. When you go into real estate, your entire job is to help people buy and sell homes. This is often the largest financial transaction of your client’s lives. 

Having a deep understanding of what clients expect from you as a real estate agent will make you better at your job. Let’s look at some of the things clients want from their real estate agents.

Top 8 Things Clients Expect from a Real Estate Agent

 

1. Expert Knowledge

While your clients may not expect you to know everything about real estate, they expect you to have expert knowledge. If you don’t have the answers, you better know how to find them. 

Clients expect you to have a lot of answers to their questions. They expect to get expert real estate advice from you. It will be common to answer questions about the neighborhood, the schools in the area, and how fast their home might sell. There are dozens of questions they will likely ask you and you need to have the answers.

If you don’t have the answers to the questions they ask, make sure you can find them. A good real estate broker can make a big difference. While you shouldn’t have to go to them often to answer questions from clients, they can provide answers when you get that odd question, you’re not sure about.

2. Availability

While most good clients won’t expect you to be available 24/7 and understand you have other clients and a life, clients do expect you to be available. They expect you to answer their calls, emails, and texts in a timely manner. 

Using an automatic response when you cannot get back to your clients right away, can help. This response can at least give your clients an idea of when you will get back to them. When they get a response from you, even an automatic message, it helps reassure them that you will return their call, text, or email.

3. Screen Buyers

When you’re working with sellers, they will expect you to screen buyers. You will likely help buyers get pre-approved or make sure those scheduling a showing are financially capable of buying the home. Sellers don’t want time wasted or just anybody looking at their home.

Working with a seller means you have to show the home to interested and serious buyers. This means you need to properly screen potential buyers to make sure they are ready to buy the home you are trying to sell for your client.

4. A Solid Reputation

Nobody wants to work with a real estate agent with a poor reputation. Most clients will expect you to have a good reputation. Being able to trust you, as a real estate agent, is one of the most important things for clients.

Real estate already has a decent amount of skepticism around it. Clients want to work with an agent they can trust. They want to know you will work with them in an honest and ethical way. Your reputation is vital to your success since referral and repeat business will become the cornerstone of your career.

5. Having a Solid Marketing Plan

Real estate agents need a good marketing plan for the listings they take on. Sellers will expect you to be able to show how successful you have been with past listings. They will want to know they are in good hands when listing their home for sale. 

A well-defined marketing plan is vital to your business when you work with sellers. You need to have a way to provide the best listing pictures, videos, and marketing strategies. Virtual tours, open house strategies, social media advertising, and other marketing tactics will be expected by sellers.

6. Handle Negotiations

 

 

One of the main jobs of a real estate agent is to negotiate on behalf of their clients. You will be expected to negotiate the deal and get it closed to the benefit of your client. Whether you’re working with a buyer or a seller, they will expect you to do the negotiating.

Negotiating skills are important for all real estate agents. You will want to understand how to work with your clients, how to negotiate with other agents, and how to get the deal close.

7. Manage the Entire Transaction

Of course, your clients will expect you to be able to manage the entire transaction for them. This includes managing the home inspection, handling closing, and making sure all the paperwork is handled properly. You will need to know the process of buying and selling a home inside and out.

8. Provide Recommendations

It’s also common for clients to expect you to know local vendors and provide recommendations. This can be as simple as recommending good mortgage brokers, but can also include recommending a good restaurant for a meal. 

It’s a good idea to know your community inside and out. Know a few good attorneys you can recommend, a few good lenders, and know where the best places are for meals and other things. You should have a short list of the following to recommend:

  • Handypersons
  • Pest control professionals
  • Lenders
  • Attorneys
  • Inspectors
  • Home care services
  • Pet care services
  • Restaurants/Coffee Shops
  • Interior Decorators
  • And more!

Being able to provide a solid recommendation to your clients can help you build a better relationship.  When making any kind of service or trade recommendation, be sure to give multiple ones for the same profession and suggest that they do their diligence in determining which one they use.  For example, if you only recommend one inspector and they drop the ball or miss an important detail, the clients may blame you for the referral.

When you work as a real estate agent, it’s important to provide what your clients expect. These are some of the most common things buyers and sellers will expect from you. Make sure you have a good plan in place to provide exactly what your client needs.

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