If you plan on buying or selling real estate in the future, not just here in the Palm Springs area but almost anywhere, this information could very well benefit you. First some background.
Last month I was interviewed during a one-hour segment on the local Bloomberg financial news radio outlet. The host, Ron Siegel and I talked about our local real estate market and the fact that my team and I are busy enough that we don’t have to depend on the next transaction in order to make ends meet.
Looking Out For Your Best Interests
“If a real estate agent, or any financial professional for that matter, is not busy and successful they just might need to convince a client to buy or sell with them when in fact they should really be telling you to wait.” Ron said.
Now let me say right now that I believe that most agents are looking out for the better good of their clients. But what Ron said on the show made sense; “What if an agent’s mortgage payment is coming due and they haven’t sold a property in a while? What if they really need your sale to make ends meet this month?” Ron said.
This got me to thinking about all the times that I’ve been able to advise clients not to buy or sell a property at a particular time because it really wasn’t in their best interest to act then. And I’m certainly blessed to be able to do that.
Here’s How You Can Benefit
So here’s the information that I promised to share earlier that could benefit you in buying or selling your next home. It’s quite simple really. Be sure to check out each prospective agent’s references and their recent sales transactions. Ask them for a list of their sales transaction over the last twelve months.
Here in the desert, 24% of local agents did not complete a single sales transaction last year. And in the U.S., the average agent completes just seven sales transactions per year. In my opinion, it’s hard to stay on top of the Palm Springs area real estate market if you only work at it part-time. You wouldn’t be as familiar with as many communities and properties, and you certainly wouldn’t have much experience negotiating transactions on behalf of your clients.
So before you walk into that open house and buy a home from the nice agent sitting behind the desk, or list your home with an agent who is a friend of a friend, please consider doing your homework. Past results don’t guarantee future success, but what else do you have to go on?