2. Negotiation
       There is an old saying used by divorce attorneys that goes, “He who has the best attorney, wins”.  The same applies to the purchase or sale of property, “He who has the best agent, wins”.  Simple language in contracts to buy or sell, determines what rules everyone is bound by and who pays for what costs.  Items like property inspections need to have rules for what can and cannot be addressed.

3. Marketing
       If you are selling a property the goal is to actually “sell” not “list” and have nothing happen.  Today, the number of agents just looking to get a listing, so they hope they can get a call off the sign and hopefully stay in business a while longer, is staggering and has lead to agents that will promise “the world” and not deliver.  Look for an agent that actually “sells” at least 90% of his listings.

4. Stay out of court
       It doesn’t do any good to sell a property and have to give back all or some of the money six months later because your agent screwed up.  A property next to a home I own, sold through another agent that failed to disclose the owner replaced the shake roof with a tile roof.  When the roof had a problem the seller was liable for “triple the damage” and ended up paying over $40,000.00 and attorney costs to settle a claim that should of never existed.

5. Reputation
       If you hire “a part time agent” that has a second job, expect part time results (there is a reason they have a second job…. It is because they have not done well enough in real estate to do it full time).  A good rule of thumb is, “If no one has heard of your agent, doctor, attorney then maybe you can do better”.   (I wouldn’t let some unknown doctor operate on me or hire some unknown attorney to represent me if my life savings was at stake).

6. Company
       Just because an agent tells you they are with a national brand company does not mean you get anything because of it.  Every company I know of in Las Vegas is independently owned and operated (franchised), and while one owner may own several office locations (for example, my company has approximately 1,000 agents in several locations), the national brand is not responsible or liable for any agent.  Therefore, pick a company that has local strength to give you “peace of mind” not a brand x company with a handful of agents that can go out of business or loose their franchise because a few of their agents open their own brand x company down the street and raid the old company of its agents.