Before you hire a buddy or family member to be your real estate agent -- be warned!
Look, we know what you're thinking. If you need to hire someone to help you buy or sell property (as most states require), why not give your business to someone you know? Here's why that thinking is flawed -- merely having a broker's license and familiarity with you on a personal level is not nearly enough to be the best person for the job.
Here are three major reasons why using a family member or personal friend for your real estate transactions is a bad idea.
The Wrong Fit
When you're hiring a real estate broker, you want the absolute best professional for the job. There's a reason why the old expression claims 90% of real estate transactions are done by just 10% of real estate agents. You only want to consider full-time, top-producing real estate sales agents.
First of all, you need someone who is fluent in your local real estate market. Experience matters, not only in terms of their total number of years in the industry, but also having experience with properties in your neighborhood. Having a great sense of local market conditions is what allows you to get the most value for your house (selling or buying!). You also want someone representing you who specializes in the same type of property. Single family homes are different from condos, after all. (Think about it another way; just because you know an "attorney" doesn't mean you'd hire them if they didn't practice real estate law, right?).
The chances of you already having a relationship with the best candidate for your precise needs are almost zero. While it's fair to consider a personal connection for your business, you should always speak with at least three other real estate brokers before hiring one. Often, just performing that exercise alone highlights why a best friend doesn't always make the best agent.
Conflict of Interest
Mixing your personal relationships with your professional goals can be an extremely volatile experiment. The qualities that may endear someone to you personally are not always the ones that make a great real estate agent.
Close friends -- or worse, blood relatives -- often feel like your relationship with them makes them deserving of your business. But that's totally backwards! An agent should represent clients with their professional and financial interests at heart; bringing objectivity to the table is crucial. Friends or family members who know you well may make assumptions about your preferences that aren't true. Or, when push comes to shove, they may cut corners because they know you. The last thing you want is someone who feels like they don't need to spend time on your sale or take your search for granted.
When it works, hiring your best friends as real estate brokers is cool. You get to throw your buddy some easy business. But the risks you're taking when it doesn't work are enormous. When you feel like you aren't getting the listing services you want, what do you do then? When your buddy isn't showing you enough houses that match your requirements, how do you tell them? How exactly do you fire a friend?
Permanent Damage
Sometimes, the dangers of hiring friends or family members can't be realized until it's too late, and the damage cannot be undone.
Professionally-speaking, your property is probably the largest asset you will own, buy, or sell. A blown deal or mistake can cost your tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Your savings and financial health for the rest of your life may never recover from it. And if you don't have the right real estate broker representing you, you may not even know you're making mistakes until a deal is complete (or falls apart).
On a personal level, using family or a friend as a real estate agent is the best way to ruin a relationship or strain a family dynamic. Once someone has underperformed as your agent, things between you will never be the same. It's hard to simply return to the previous context of your relationship; you'll always taste the bittersweet sting of a business deal turned sour. And usually they will notice -- and feel sheepish and avoidant of you. Why place that unnecessary stress on your personal life?
Final Thoughts
While using one of your best friends or family as a real estate agent might seem like a good idea due to familiarity and trust, you must consider the potential drawbacks and complications. An experienced, professional agent can provide objective advice and has the necessary market knowledge and network to best serve your real estate needs.
You need the right agent to bring you prospective buyers or listings.
Ready to find the top agent in your neighborhood for any real estate need? Get started on TrueParity -- always fast, easy, and free.
