Carlos Garcia is a broker/vice president with The Keyes Company in Miami.
Every week, we ask a real estate professional for their Short List, a collection of tips and recommendations on an essential topic in real estate. This week, we talked with Carlos Garcia, a broker/vice president with The Keyes Company in Miami.
10. Interview the buyer to see if you would like to work with them; via phone is okay as the initial contact, but in-person is always preferred.
9. Ask the buyer to come to your office and meet face to face, which shows seriousness to the buyer before you invest your time and effort to assist them. Ask them to initiate a buyer agreement with you.
8. Ask the buyer about their credit, employment and if they file their tax returns. Agents should have an idea of what the current bank requirements are, rather than just referring the buyer to a mortgage consultant.
7. Advise the buyer to pull their own credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com for free, and for them not to do anything that would affect their credit scores.
6. Have the buyer obtain a pre-approval letter from one of your recommended lenders, so you can keep control of the prospect. Many times you send the buyer to their lender, and then their lender takes control and refers the buyer to another agent.
5. Once a price range is determined based on pre-approval, ask the buyer questions so you know what type of property they are seeking.
4. The questions need to include the buyer’s preferences, such as: importance of school district, drive time to work, type of property, etc.
3. Once you have the above fine-tuned, show yourself as a resource, and buyer will be happy to work with you to find their home; an experienced agent is an asset to the buyer who makes the buying process a smooth one.
2. Those first steps are necessary before showing any property, unless it is your listing and you can meet that buyer at your listing, instead of the office, as the first appointment.
1. Finally, avoid being a taxi driver or a tour guide; an agent’s time is valuable.
Carlos Garcia, a broker/vice president with The Keyes Company in Miami, has been a resident of Miami since 1966. A multimillion-dollar producer, he has been in the top five of The Keyes Company every year, and is its No. 1 sales agent in Miami-Dade.