This might not be a popular opinion among realtors, but I strongly advise clients to work with realtors who are “in” the market they are working.
Every now and then, my own clients will ask me to find something for them in Coeur d’Alene or Spokane, but I’ll refer them to someone who knows the market better than I do. And here’s why:
All too often I’ve worked on transactions with realtors from out of the area who are doing a huge disservice to their clients because they don’t understand the nuances of our area, the various legal issues, and proper pricing.
I’ve seen one agent cost their client $20,000 dollars, to the benefit of my own client, because they didn’t know the area and all that entails.
A good realtor would refer you to a local realtor because they know they don’ t know the market, nor do they have the time because they are busy enough within their own.
You should be able to rely on your realtor for more than finding a property and negotiating a price. Realtors should be knowledgeable about local by-laws, regulations, and the intricacies of the community. These things have serious impact on individual properties, their values and the ability to build on them.
As a realtor who has lived in the area for more than 20 years, I know solutions to issues like utility, environmental issues, by-laws, and much more.
I don’t give up, either. Let me give you a specific example of what I mean by this: – when I helped a client find a property on which he intended to build a bigger house, we discovered it didn’t have septic, but this was exactly the piece he wanted. So, my challenge was – how can we build a 3000 square foot home with these conditions?
I learned septic access was grandfathered in because it had an older house on the property, however we were limited because of setbacks and the amount of drain field in the area. Upon further research, I found a system that is like it’s own private treatment plant. I called our local health district and they said they would accept it and that it is by far superior to any septic system you can put in. Client was happy and we moved forward on the deal. I love making that happen.
