The Role of an Agent
An agent dealing in real estate has an important role to fulfill. This individual plays a primary part in helping individuals buy and sell their homes. Agents may also help individuals rent property as well. There are many duties and responsibilities which an agent completes on a daily basis.
What Is An Agent?
An agent is an individual who helps the general public buy, sell or rent their real estate property. The agent will do background work as well as vital in-person jobs to help individuals with their real property transfers.
What Are the General Responsibilities of an Agent?
The main general responsibility of an agent is to aid the client in the sale, purchase or rental of a piece of real estate. This responsibility starts with the listing of a property or location of a property and ends at a point anywhere past the actual settlement on the property. The agent has the responsibility of establishing a relationship with their client and pursuing all means in which to fulfill the request of the client with regard to real property transfers.
What Are the Specific Duties of an Agent?
There are many duties which encompass the role of an agent. The first duty of an agent is to locate either a buyer or seller of a piece of property. If the agent is representing the seller of a property, the agent must locate prospective buyers for the property through advertising and other means. In the alternative, if the agent represents the buyer, that individual must help the buyer locate a particular property and get in contact with the seller.
Another specific duty of the agent is to contact numerous parties responsible for the possible purchase or sale of real estate. Corresponding with various parties is a frequent duty of the agent. There are many individuals and parties who need to be contacted throughout real estate transactions such as buyers, sellers, mortgage companies, attorneys, utility companies and more.
The agent is also the party who is responsible for procuring real estate contracts when an individual purchases, sells or rents a piece of property. These contracts and accompanying documents are crucial for the completion of a real estate transaction and the burden of completing this type of paperwork falls on the agents.
Once a piece of property has been located, the agent is the individual who shows the property to the client or for the client, depending upon who the agent represents. If the agent represents the seller in a real estate transaction, the agent will make the property accessible to the buyer and his/her agent. If the agent represents the buyer in a transaction, the agent will accompany the buyer to view the property and make necessary arrangements with the seller’s agent in order to do so.
An agent must also negotiate on behalf of their client during real estate transactions. This occurs frequently with regard to price and settlement dates as well as discussing any items that are to be included within the property purchase. The agent for the buyer will try to obtain the lowest price and the agent for the seller will aim for the highest price.
Lastly, the real estate agent is responsible for attending settlement with his/her client. This is the real estate closing where all documents are signed in order to complete the purchase and sale. The agent will explain all pertinent documents to the client and show the client what and where to sign.
What Traits Should All Agents Possess?
An agent who deals with real estate transactions on behalf of their client should possess certain traits. The first trait which all agents should have is good negotiation skills. An agent with such skills is one who will obtain the best results for their client and do so to the best of their ability. Since negotiating with regard to price and terms is often necessary in real estate transactions, agents with this particular trait will excel in this position.
Agents should also have good conversational skills. Since corresponding with various parties is an important duty for all agents to fulfill, it is vital that agents have good conversational skills and are eloquent in their speech. This will enable them to get their point across as efficiently as possible.
Determination and drive are also beneficial traits for agents to possess. Since the real estate business is a dog eat dog world, it is important that one’s agent is a go-getter and knows how to work towards the best interest of their client. The more determination an agent has, the more likely they are to sell or purchase a property on behalf of their client. Determination and drive are wonderful attributes for every real estate agent to have.
Good organizational skills are also important traits for agents to possess. Due to the fact that there are large amounts of paperwork which need to be completed, exchanged, corrected and filed, being organized will aid an agent in doing this task as efficiently as possible.
Agents should also be good researchers. When it comes to real estate transactions, the agent should know various information regarding property locations, property values, taxes and types of properties. This will enable the agent to relay the important information back to their clients in a concise manner which will be easy for the client to understand and process.
Lastly, agents should continually keep up to date on real estate market trends and sales tactics through courses and seminars. By attending classes of this nature, this will help them to aid their clients to the best of their ability by refreshing with regard to real estate issues and information.
Conclusion
An agent is an individual who has full workdays but exciting ones at that. This individual gets to complete a wide range of duties and do whatever it takes to help their client buy or sell their home. If an individual has drive, determination, good organizational skills and wonderful people skills, becoming an agent might be a great opportunity for them.
