Drew Peterson

We'd like to start this blog by saying thank you to those of you who read and commented on our "Top Ten Realtor Myths" blog series. If you missed it, you can click here to visit Our Blog and check out the posts. Now, let's get down to business.

How do you choose your Realtor? How do you choose the person or persons who will represent you during one of the largest financial transactions of your life?

Make no mistake about it. Choosing the wrong Realtor can cost you thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. It can make your life infinitely more stressful. The good news, however, is that choosing a great Realtor is fairly simple if you know where to look.

The best single place to begin your search for a Realtor is right in your own backyard. Take a drive through your neighborhood and note any "sale pending" or "sold signs". Write down the names of any agents who have multiple listings. If you cannot make a solid list from traveling your own neighborhood, visit the surrounding communities. Try to get at least 5 names.

Next, talk to your neighbors and any friends that live nearby. See if they have used a particularly good Realtor recently. Once you have added any recommended Realtors to your list, you are ready to start interviewing.

As you conduct the interview process, there are three basic guidelines you'll want to keep in mind. First, choose someone with relevant experience. Second, choose someone that listens to you. Third, choose someone you are comfortable with. Let's go in-depth with these guidelines one at a time.

First, and foremost, is the Realtor's relevant experience. By relevant, we mean experience selling in the same general geographic area, dealing with the same or a similar type of housing, and having made the sales in the last 6 months. If any one of these three criteria is missing, the Realtor will not be the best person for the job.

The second guideline for choosing the right Realtor is to find someone who listens to you. This might sound simple, but you'd be surprised how many stories we have heard of Realtors making a two or three hour listing presentation, during which the prospective client spoke a total of ten minutes. You should do the majority of the talking with the Realtor asking relevant questions and making notes.

Finally, you have to choose a Realtor you are comfortable with. If you get a bad feeling about an agent, or the person rubs you the wrong way, keep looking. You could be entering into a business relationship with that person for six months or more, so good rapport is key.

In the interest of keeping this blog a reasonable length, we've split it into a two-part series. Check back on Monday when we'll discuss how to apply the three guidelines and recommend some poignant questions to ask your prospective Realtors.

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Welcome to the last installment of our blog series on the Top Ten Realtor Myths. On Monday, we addressed the myth that a Realtor should be hired on the basis of his or her marketing skills. If you missed that installment, you can read it by clicking here. Now, let's move on to the number one Realtor myth.

Myth: A Realtor is a Realtor is a Realtor.

Fact: The Realtor designation merely indicates that the real estate agent is a member of the National Association of Realtors. It is not an indication of skill, experience, training, or background.

At first glance, you might be confused about why we listed this as the number one myth. After all, it seems kind of obvious. No one actually thinks all Realtors are the same, right?

Unfortunately, even if buyers and sellers know in their heads that all Realtors are different, their actions consistently contradict that knowledge. Take, for example, the National Association of Realtors study that found 64% of sellers and 80% of buyers hired the first, and only, Realtor they interviewed. What an astounding statistic, especially given that a house is usually a family's single greatest asset.

To be perfectly honest, however, we're not all that surprised by the number. We can't count the number of times we've heard someone say they were going to hire a friend, neighbor, friend of a friend, or relative "because she's a Realtor". Now, don't get us wrong. We're not saying your friend or neighbor isn't the right person to represent you. We're merely saying she's not the right person to represent you solely because she's a Realtor. There's more to it than that.

First of all, there's absolutely no training involved to become a Realtor. Let us repeat that. There is NO training involved to become a Realtor. You pay some money, attend an ethics class, and you're in regardless of skill, knowledge, or background. Granted, you have to become licensed first, but in Florida that merely involves passing an exam on real estate law.

Second, Realtors have vastly different specialties, fees, skills, and business philosophies. One Realtor might work primarily with investors, another strictly with buyers, and yet another might only handle bank-owned properties. More to the point, most Realtors have experience selling homes in an extremely limited number of communities in a given city or town.

The point we're trying to make here is that Realtors are not like doctors or lawyers. You can call any doctor or lawyer and know they have at least attended several years of schooling and passed a rigorous exam to enter their profession. Not so with Realtors. In fact, someone with no high school or college education and no work experience could become a Realtor without much difficulty.

So, if Realtors have vastly different skills, experiences, and business models, how do you choose the best one for you? Well, check back on Monday when we'll discuss our recommendations for finding and interviewing Realtors. Thank you to all those who have already provided us feedback on our Top Ten List! Keep the comments and questions coming!

Welcome to the last installment of our blog series on the Top Ten Realtor Myths. On Monday, we addressed the myth that a Realtor should be hired on the basis of his or her marketing skills. If you missed that installment, you can read it by clicking here. Now, let's move on to the number one Realtor myth.

At first glance, you might be confused about why we listed this as the number one myth. After all, it seems kind of obvious. No one actually thinks all Realtors are the same, right?

Unfortunately, even if buyers and sellers know in their heads that all Realtors are different, their actions consistently contradict that knowledge. Take, for example, the National Association of Realtors study that found 64% of sellers and 80% of buyers hired the first, and only, Realtor they interviewed. What an astounding statistic, especially given that a house is usually a family's single greatest asset.

To be perfectly honest, however, we're not all that surprised by the number. We can't count the number of times we've heard someone say they were going to hire a friend, neighbor, friend of a friend, or relative "because she's a Realtor".

Now, don't get us wrong. We're not saying your friend or neighbor isn't the right person to represent you. We're merely saying she's not the right person to represent you solely because she's a Realtor. There's more to it than that.

First of all, there's absolutely no training involved to become a Realtor. Let us repeat that. There is NO training involved to become a Realtor. You pay some money, attend an ethics class, and you're in regardless of skill, knowledge, or background. Granted, you have to become licensed first, but in Florida that merely involves passing an exam on real estate law.

Second, Realtors have vastly different specialties, fees, skills, and business philosophies. One Realtor might work primarily with investors, another strictly with buyers, and yet another might only handle bank-owned properties. More to the point, most Realtors have experience selling homes in an extremely limited number of communities in a given city or town.

The point we're trying to make here is that Realtors are not like doctors or lawyers. You can call any doctor or lawyer and know they have at least attended several years of schooling and passed a rigorous exam to enter their profession. Not so with Realtors. In fact, someone with no high school or college education and no work experience could become a Realtor without much difficulty.

So, if Realtors have vastly different skills, experiences, and business models, how do you choose the best one for you? Well, check back on Monday when we'll discuss our recommendations for finding and interviewing Realtors. Thank you to all those who have already provided us feedback on our Top Ten List! Keep the comments and questions coming!

If you just read the title of this blog, you are likely asking yourself what predicting the national weather means. After all, there isn't really a "national" weather, right? It varies from town to town, city to city. Heck, it can even vary from neighborhood to neighborhood.

Imagine turning on the TV today and seeing a meteorologist say the national weather was going to be 82 degrees and sunny. Would you believe that? Not if you had lived in Orlando for any period of time. You would know it was going to be at least 95 degrees with the likelihood of an afternoon shower.

What's the point of this discussion and how does it relate to real estate? Simple. Real estate, much like the weather, is a local phenomenon. There is no "national" real estate market.

Now, there is the obvious elephant in the room that we need to recognize. The economy, interest rates, etc. do have an impact on each and every local real estate market. However, it's the same with the weather. If it's December, you're not going to expect to hear about 100 degree weather regardless of where you are. By the same token, just because it is December everywhere doesn't mean we expect to have the same 10 degree day Buffalo, New York has.

The point here is when CNN reports that the housing market is soft, foreclosures are on the rise, and there is no hope in sight, don't immediately assume it applies to Orlando. More to the point, when the Orlando Sentinel reports the metro Orlando area (Orange and Seminole counties primarily) is "tumbling", don't assume it applies to your neighborhood. There are areas of Orlando that are appreciating, just as there are areas that have been hit hard by foreclosures.

Before taking any sort of report at face value, ask a local expert for their opinion. Have them show you the numbers to support that opinion. You might just be surprised to learn that it's not as bad as you thought.

Long story short, mortgages are more difficult to come by now than they were just a year ago. You probably knew that. What you might not have known is that lenders are relying more and more on your credit scores to make decisions about interest rates, down payment requirements, and income and asset verification.

Just as an example, a person with a credit score of 695 might get an interest rate of 6.75%. A similar person with the identical down payment, job history, and loan amount as person number 1, but with a credit score of 702, would get an interest rate of 6.25%. Just for having a credit score higher than 700, the second person will have an interest rate a full .5% lower than person number 1. In terms of monthly payment, that's a savings of more than $100 a month on a $250,000 loan.

What's that? You're not in the market for a home right now? Perfect! Now is the best time to work on improving your score. After all, you never know when you might want to buy a new car, refinance your current loan, or take out a home equity line of credit to help pay for some unexpected bills.

Since there are many, many websites and companies dedicated to helping you improve your credit score, we'll skip that discussion. Instead, we'll leave you with this advice: Check you credit score and check it often. Gain an understanding of how the score is calculated and how you can improve yours. Make it your goal to get above 700 (above 740 is even better).