3 keys to finding the right real estate agent for your co-owned vacation home

Buying property can be a complicated process, but buying property as a group - say with your friends or family - can make things even more complicated. Even if you’ve worked out who gets what, and when, dealing with large sums of money can foster some drama in even the closest of relationships. But there are some steps you, and your group, can take to make purchasing your vacation get-a-way, primary residence, or multi-family investment as smooth as possible - the first, and maybe most important, of which is choosing the right real estate agent for the job.

What does the buying process look like?

Before we dive into the ins and outs of choosing the right real estate agent, let's talk about how this whole buying process works. Here are the steps a single person or married couple can expect to take when they decide to buy property:

1. Finding a lender - After you’ve determined your budget and are ready to pay a downpayment, buyers need to find a lender for a letter of pre-approval for a mortgage. But it’s important to find a lender that fits your needs. Do they offer the kind of loan you’re looking for? How do their rates compare to current mortgage rates? What kind of closing costs are you going to have to cover? Consider all these when shopping for lenders.
2. Find an agent - we’ll get more into this later, but once you’ve settled on an agent you can get to the fun part - looking at homes!
3. Making an offer - Once you’ve found your next dream home, you’ll make an initial offer to the selling party.
4. Offer negotiations - These negotiations can be a breeze or a pain, but once a price is agreed upon the buyer(s) will make an earnest money deposit, usually into an escrow account, while the next step happens.
5. Contingency period - This is when the official home inspections and the loan approval process happens. You can also expect sellers to share additional disclosures regarding their home.
6. Removal of contingencies - Once you’ve finalized any extra negotiations, like any necessary repairs, you’ll go ahead and remove your contingencies. This includes removing your loan contingency once your lender has given you the green light. Keep in mind that if you decide to walk away from the deal after this point, that your deposit is non-refundable.
7. Closing documents and getting the keys - The period of time between removing your contingencies and finally closing on a new property is a game of hurry-up-and-wait. But once the time comes to close - or is close at least - you’ll finally get to sign the final loan documents. When the big day arrives, you’ll do one final walk-through with your real estate agent and get your hands on the keys to your new home!

The value of the right real estate agent

Though those steps may look simple written out, things can - and usually will - go sideways at any point in the buying process. This is where having the right real estate agent can prove invaluable. Think of them as your guide through some tricky financial and legal negotiations.

A good real estate agent will not only have the expertise, and experience, to help you find and buy the right home, they’ll also always have your best interests at heart.  They’ll  help establish and prioritize your preferences and must-haves, which is particularly helpful when you consider that the average buyer will look at around 10 homes before making an offer. Once they've helped you find the right home, they’ll use their experience from working with different lenders and buyers to assist you through the contingency period, when tricky negotiations cause many deals fall apart.

The 3 biggest challenges for co-buyers

As discussed, buying property is already a tricky process. Adding co-buyers into the mix can exacerbate any trip-ups along the way. Here are the three biggest challenges co-buyers can expect to face.

1. Each other - Making important decisions with large sums of money involved is no joke. This kind of financial stress can lead to a bunch of different conflicts between co-buyers. Establishing trust, thoroughness, and boundaries are incredibly important in the co-buying process; anything, and everything, to facilitate being able to make big decisions as a team.
2. The House - Everyone enters the house-hunting process with their own set of priorities. While some people want to maximize space, others may place a higher value on location. For all you know, the perfect property for everyone could be right next door, or it could require a little compromise from everyone involved.
3. Who gets what? - How will costs be divided? How will the space itself be divided? Who gets the one parking space, or the closer parking space? Make sure you’ve thought all these things through.

How can the right agent help?

Your real estate agent knows more about buying property than you do. Once you’ve found an agent whose credentials you like, and with whom you get along well with on a personal level, let them help guide your group’s decision making process. A good agent can put all the complex terminology and processes into simple terms, because - when it comes down to it - their job is to make a complicated process as easy for their clients as possible.

A good real estate agent can also lead the charge with negotiations. They should have extensive knowledge of local housing markets and trends, and should be able to advise you towards negotiating the best deal you can get.

What to look for in an agent

We can see how the right real estate agent can help you co-buy property. So how do you know a good agent when you meet one? Let's take a look at some qualities all great real estate agents share.

1. Excellent communication skills - Any agent can show you a home - but a great agent makes buying one simple, and the way an agent does that is by communicating effectively. This kind of communication requires an ability to connect well with others on a personal level, and an ability to deal effectively with any kind of personality. Communicating effectively with you is probably different than communicating with your co-buyer.
2. A good track record with traditional buyers - An agent with a strong record working with traditional, single-party buyers has the knowledge and know-how required to negotiate successful deals. Having these skills already honed makes the complexities of working with multiple buyers that much easier to handle.
3. A large network - A great agent is a master of networking, because having a large, comprehensive network makes their jobs easier. Whether it’s professional favors or knowing which lawyers or contractors to avoid, a connected agent makes your life easier.

Nestment, Inc. does not guarantee and is in no way responsible for the accuracy of information provided in this blog post. All information is provided “AS IS” and with all faults. Data presented here may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.  While the information on this site is about legal and tax issues, it is not intended as legal or tax advice or as a substitute for the particularized advice of your own attorney and tax professional.