What You Need to Know Before Hiring an Agent

Selling your Long Island home? Get a free home value report 
Want to buy a Long Island home? Search all homes for sale

One of the most important things you can do when buying or selling a home is to hire the right real estate agent. There are several questions that you need to ask your agent before you hire them.

1. What is their list to sale price ratio? This tells you whether or not a Realtor is good at pricing and selling homes. Out of 100 homes, how many did they manage to sell? This will tell you a lot about the skill of the agent. My average is 90%, so you have a high chance of selling.
2. How is this person going to draw buyers into my home? Your agent will need to utilize multiple forms of marketing. I have a personalized approach for each and every seller, and this guarantees a wide audience for your property.
3. What percentage of their business is from past clients? Referrals are important, and this can tell you a lot about the customer service provided by this agent. You want someone who communicates with you throughout the entire process. This can make for a much easier and smoother home sale.

If you have any further questions about what to look for in an agent, please don't hesitate to contact me.

I look forward to hearing from you!

The Difference Between Pre-Qualification and Pre-Approval

Selling your Long Island home? Get a free home value report 
Want to buy a Long Island home? Search all homes for sale
 

Today, we’ll talk about the difference between getting pre-qualified and pre-approved for a mortgage. When a pre-approved or pre-qualified client approaches me, I need to first find out which one they actually are. There’s a clear difference.

For pre-qualification, a buyer contacts a lender with financial information and the lender bases their decision off these numbers. This model relies heavily on information provided by the buyer directly. No pay stubs, W-2s, credit score report, or similar paperwork are involved for the lender to make this decision. While the buyer may still be honest with the lender, it’s not official.

For pre-approval, documentation is required to make a decision. This is what you really want. A buyer created a relationship with a lender by giving them required paperwork. There’s documentation attached to the information they provide. The lender has the opportunity to discuss a buyer’s work history and any debt to understand the loan. The lender then determines whether or not a buyer could afford a certain mortgage.

There’s a vast difference between the two processes! You’ll want a pre-approval letter over a pre-qualification as a buyer. If you’re not submitting paperwork, you are not pre-approved, but instead, only pre-qualified.

If you have any questions about this topic, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out to us!