Recently my mother-in-law moved down to Miami Florida and has thoroughly been enjoying her retirement. With that said, before she even moved…she hired a real estate agent in Miami to help her find the perfect retirement home.
Today, I wanted to share some tips with all of you on how she found the perfect agent to help assist her.
1. My mother-in-law has several friends who moved down to that area over the past few years. She called them up and asked them for a few references on who they had used.
2. We made a list of those references and then got online to do our own research. All of the agencies that were referred to us had their own online web sites. We poked around their sites, gathered more information and narrowed down our list.
3. Before working with any agent or agency you want to make sure they are properly licensed and in good standing with the state. Those who are…keep on your list and those who aren’t…remove them.
4. Set up some appointments to go in and meet with a few agents. In her case, she set up two different appointments and then flew down to Miami to meet with them. She asked a lot of questions and laid out exactly what type of home she was looking for and in what price range.
5. Before signing any contracts or documentation, read all of the fine print and get all of your questions answered. If need be, hire a property attorney to help assist you if you are investing a lot of money.
By taking all of these steps my mother-in-law was able to find the perfect Miami real estate agency to help assist her in purchasing the retirement home of her dreams.
I was interested in reading your post b/c I had been in RE for several years. All good points. I also would strongly suggest interviewing more than one agent. Also, make sure the agent backs up everything they suggest regarding pricing (of comparable homes, history of homes in the area, promises about services) with documentation. Many times ppl go with the agent who gave them the highest price they think the house should be listed – you want to see how the agent came up with that number. Good going!