Buying or selling a home is often a time of turmoil even though it’s also one of the most exciting milestones of your life. Whether you’re buying your first home, selling your house to move up to a bigger and better place or investing in an income property, the experience never gets old.

It also never gets easier, and moving can seem more hectic and complicated as time goes by. Now, more than ever, it’s essential to have a trustworthy and knowledgeable real estate agent to guide you through it all. However, there are a lot of options out there!

Currently, more than 2400 brokers and agents are practicing right here in Winnipeg. How do you narrow it down to the best fit for you? In this post, we’ll lay out a few features to look for and what to avoid.

The Benefits of a Full-Time Expert

One trend that has happened more often since the pandemic is the rise of the part-time real estate agent. Back then, the market was on fire, and even an inexperienced agent could do no wrong. Selling houses was an ideal fit for those looking for an extra stream of income. When every listing was in high demand and most received multiple offers, houses practically sold themselves. 

However, times have changed. After that market peak, buying and selling a house has become more involved and complex. A part-time effort simply cannot get the best results in any market, particularly when things are slow. Thus, our first sign to watch out for when choosing an agent is to look for someone who makes serving clients their highest priority, not just on weekends and after hours. 

We love everything about Winnipeg, and Transcona is one of our favourite communities! Learn more in the posts below:

• Everything You Need To Know About Living In Transcona
• Our Favourite Transcona Neighbourhoods
• Is Transcona Good For Families?

The Impact of Full-Time Service When Selling a Home

If you’ve ever listed a house for sale, you know for yourself that it is a full-time commitment. It involves a detailed market analysis of past and current trends. Plus, you’ll want to know what home upgrades will have the most impact on your final selling price.

Preparing your house doesn’t just mean adding a fresh coat of paint and making everything look beautiful on the surface. You have to know what is appealing to buyers in the market right now. More specifically, you need to know what the particular buyers want when looking at a home just like yours. Often, minor upgrades are more beneficial than extensive renovations. Knowing what not to do can save you a world of hassle and headaches without sacrificing a penny on the value of your home.

However, keeping up with the latest trends is a significant commitment in and of itself, and we haven’t even begun to implement the strategy yet! A full-time real estate agent can’t help but develop a finely tuned intuition as to what works and what doesn’t during all of the ebbs and flows of the market.

This expertise shows up in all aspects of selling your home:

• Determining the optimal price point that attracts the maximum attention from buyers while maintaining the full value of your home.
• Preparing and presenting your home so that qualified buyers are intrigued from the moment they spot your listing online.
• Negotiating and troubleshooting are offered so that you get the highest amount on the best terms with the least amount of stress and disruption.

In addition to all of this, being available to potential buyers to showcase homes and answer questions often falls far outside the scope of office hours. With so much at stake, can you really afford to work with someone who is squeezing in showings during their lunch break at their other job?

Want more tips on selling a home in Winnipeg? Here is some related reading you will love:

• Is Staging Really Necessary When Selling Your Winnipeg Home?
• Should I Renovate My Home Before Selling?
• A Step-By-Step Guide For First-Time Sellers In Winnipeg

What Full-Time Service Means for Buyers

As a buyer searching for a home in a challenging market, receiving full-time service from an experienced and well-connected real estate team is critical. What good is sitting down and creating your wish list of features if you can’t find a home that fits the bill?

Without someone advocating for your interests, you might end up settling for something that’s not quite right or not finding a home at all. Though there may be times when conditions lean temporarily in favour of buyers, the market is not getting easier over the long term. An agent working part-time simply doesn’t have access to the number of hard-to-find and off-market listings that might be available. It turns out, there’s a lot more to finding the right home than signing up for notifications on the MLS® and Realtor.ca.

How can a dedicated and full time Realtor® help you as a buyer?

• With an extensive network of other agents and previous clients, they will have a database of homeowners who are ready to sell, or soon will be. A well-connected real estate agent acts as your eyes and ears in the market, which means you’ll often get access to possible listings the second they go live.
• Offering the highest amount of money helps if you’re ever up against multiple buyers. However, there are other ways to make your offer compelling. An experienced real estate agent can guide you through it while negotiating on your behalf.
• Is that home that looks perfect really the right fit for you? A Realtor® who has worked with many buyers in the past can help you look beyond the surface and ensure a home is all that it seems. They don’t just watch out for structural problems. Sometimes, small details matter most. For example, if you have small children, you’ll want an unobstructed view of the backyard. An experienced agent instinctively looks out for countless details to ensure you are happy in your home for years to come. 

Learn more about buying your next home in Winnipeg in the posts below:

• What Does Winnipeg Offer For Affluent Buyers? 
• Benefits Of Buying An Older Home In Winnipeg
• What Makes A Home Offer Appeal To Sellers?

A Higher Level of Service

Ask anyone who has bought or sold a home over the last few years what they value most in a real estate agent, and they’ll usually tell you the same thing. Though expertise is essential, service is everything. 

When you find a Realtor® who loves what they do, you have the best chance for a successful outcome at every stage in this exciting transition. 

Are you searching for an experienced and passionate real estate team in Winnipeg? We know and love this city and are happy to guide you every step of the way. Reach out to 204-224-2551 or info@goodfellowrealty.com to start the conversion.