. Area Expert - The Santa Clarita real estate agent must be familiar with your city location and have the knowledge required in order to give you the tips and strategies required for buying or selling your home. Be cautious of agents who claim they are experts in your area, only to find out their main pool of expertise is 50 miles away. The agent may not have the knowledge required to show the home buyer neighborhoods that may be desired or homes that just came on the market and not yet listed on the public MLS. The local agent experts have their feelers out better than real estate agents who aren't in the area on a regular basis.

There ARE plenty of good, honest Santa Clarita real estate agents. But every industry has its share of shonky practitioners - unfortunately, that's just human nature. Take any large group of people, and you'll find a percentage who are prepared to twist the rules to their own advantage. And as we all know, the most fresh-faced, charming people can also be the most crooked, so we can't assume the nice guys are really the nice guys!

Upon signing a listing contract with the seller wishing to sell the real estate, the brokerage attempts to earn a commission by finding a buyer for the sellers' property for highest possible price on the best terms for the seller. In California, most provinces' laws require the Santa Clarita real estate agent to forward all written offers to the seller for consideration or review.

A Realtor will guide you through the process of setting a price. When you are selling your house it is crucial you choose the right price. Pricing it too low may encourage people to think something is seriously wrong with your house or losing money. If the price is too high it won't attract buyers. A good Realtor will give you a very accurate price range for your home, based on recent real estate activity in the neighborhood, market conditions, and of course, the state of your home. The Realtor does not set the price of the home, contrary to what some people believe. However, the agent will guide you so that you can make the right decisions.

Some buyers are under the mistaken notion that, by bypassing this service, the seller will be free to negotiate a large discount in the sale price. If the seller has retained a Santa Clarita real estate agent to sell his house, the seller has already signed a listing agreement with the brokerage firm, also known as the real estate office. The listing agreement specifically states the percentage of commission he agrees to pay for the sale of his home. The only difference that a buyer’s agent makes in the transaction is that the seller’s agent and real estate office have to share the commission fee with the buyer’s agent.

Another under utilized marketing tool is your business card. Most Santa Clarita real estate agents are ready to hand out their business cards to everyone they meet, but how many actual leads come from all that paper changing hands? Most likely the prospect holds onto it for a week or so and then throws it away. So how do you keep your card from ending up in the round file until you can generate the lead from it? Give it value. On the back side of your card print a small ad that offers your free report, available 24/7, and just like with your other extensions, you will capture name, address, and phone number for each caller.

Experience - Only deal with agents who have a vast amount of experience. It is recommended that agents have closed at least 25 transactions to even be considered as a candidate. Some web sites put up newbies or agents that have problems getting leads. These are not the agents who can close your deal with your best interests at heart. These are agents that have little knowledge in the real estate industry and can actually cause the home buyer or home seller major stress and economic loss.

The lockbox contains the key to the door of the property and the box can only be opened by licensed Santa Clarita real estate agents (often only with authorization from the listing brokerage), by using some sort of secret combination or code provided by the brokerage or the issuer of the lockbox.