In a dynamic society today, the step towards owning a home represents one of the most significant moments in life.
Buying an apartment or house requires careful preparation, research, and key decisions. In this guide, we will explore the many aspects of the home-buying process, providing you with helpful guidance and advice to make this important life decision easier.
Of course, among the most frequently asked questions are those about the prices on the real estate market - whether prices will fall or rise, whether it is the right time to sell or buy a property, how to determine the real value of the real estate, how to make a profit and, the one that is heard most often - Do I need a real estate agency for these things, and if so, which one?
The first step in the process of buying an apartment is clearly defining your goals and priorities. Think about the size of the apartment, the location, the budget, and the additional amenities you want. This will help you narrow down your choices and focus on what's important to you. The next step is a realistic assessment of your financial capabilities. To prepare for this step, research current interest rates, consider credit options, and determine how much you can afford to pay for your monthly home loan.
Why hire an agency when selling or buying real estate?
Sellers only goal is always to achieve the highest possible price, so subjectively speaking, they always sell "cheaply", while on the other hand, buyers look to buy real estate as cheaply as possible, which in both cases is a natural process in buying and selling. In the end, both the seller and the buyer have the same goal, which is for the seller to sell or the buyer to buy the property.
In the buying and selling process, both parties can profit significantly by hiring a safe and reliable intermediary - a real estate agency.
How to know if the real estate agency works legally?
Public media, advertisement sites, and especially social networks are flooded with ads from "certified agents" and agencies that provide mediation services in the sale or lease of real estate.
When choosing a real estate agency, it is first of all important to check whether they operate legally, because any illegal operation is a risk. An agency that fulfills the legal requirements for mediation activities and operates in the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina must be registered in the publicly available Register at the Federal Ministry of Trade, and certified agents who are authorized to work as real estate agents are registered in that Register as well.
Every agency that operates under the law is obliged to conclude a brokerage agreement with clients. This is the basis of any healthy and serious cooperation. Such a contract regulates mutual relations between intermediaries, i.e. the real estate agency and clients, and such a contract defines the rights, but also the obligations of the real estate agency and what is most important - what the clients get by paying the agency fee.
How to choose a real estate agent?
When clients decide which agency they want to work with, they will have the greatest communication with the agent who will follow them through the entire buying and selling process, therefore it is of crucial importance that the agent is professional, educated, honest, dedicated, and motivated to perform that job, because only so you can get quality service, save time and money.
Clients who sell or buy real estate often have neither the knowledge nor the time to check property legal documentation. A professional and educated agent is always accompanied by a notary and such an agent is well acquainted with the entire procedure and such consultations are often included in the agency fee. The purchase and sale of real estate is one of the most important events in life and, as a rule, it is a transaction of high monetary value, it is necessary to know that mistakes are not allowed in such a process, because it is a matter of selling ownership of real estate.
When the seller decides to sell real estate, he is most often informed about prices that are available on public sites or from acquaintances, but which are not reliable. Determining and setting the price of the property is the most important thing for a good and quick sale. Today, it is easier than ever to get information about the real estate market via the Internet, various public registries, and classified ads, but how do you know which of these applies to your real estate? What does all this information mean for you? All publicly available information is part of the changing statistics. It is precisely for this reason that it is in the interest of the buyer that the real estate he buys is marketed through an agency for the most realistic assessment of the market value.
An experienced agent who works in an agency with many years of experience is well-informed about price trends on the market and knows how to determine the real market value of real estate.
Should you hire one or more agents?
Many believe that direct negotiation between the seller and the buyer is more transparent and that everyone can best represent their interests. By having an agent who has good negotiation skills and who mediates the buying and selling process, the mutual interaction between the seller and the buyer is reduced to a minimum because the agent approaches the business with less emotional and subjective reasons, which helps him to see the situation more objectively and clearly which results a quick implementation of the transaction itself to mutual satisfaction.
Sellers sometimes decide to hire multiple agents to sell a property because they believe it will sell the property faster and achieve their price expectations. Still, in practice, this has proven to be unproductive. Properties listed by multiple agents often take a long time to sell - sometimes we see one property advertised by multiple agencies at different prices, which instills distrust in buyers because it seems to them that the property has some problem and needs more than one agent to sell it. When the work is entrusted to an agent or an agency, above all, this additionally motivates the agent to dedicate himself to the work and to invest additional effort and money in marketing and sales, because his compensation is more certain, taking into account that he can collect the compensation only after the realization of the sale, and with on the other hand, it enables the client who hired that agency and its agent to have a better insight into the work of that agency or agent.
Finally, the most important advice is: to check the legality of the agency, expertise, and competence of the agent, because with such an agent you will achieve the greatest communication, achieve the set goals, and feel the safest during the entire process of buying and selling an apartment.
Text taken from the Radiosarajevo.ba portal.