How to Find The Best US Real Estate Agent

One of the most important decisions for an overseas investor looking to enter the US real estate market is to identify a good real estate agent. This is not something that will happen overnight, but it will happen.

I'd recommend to contact as many agents as possible (you can find them through sites like Trulia and Zillow). Get them to sign you up to the MLS and Listingbook services. Ask them lots of questions because it's always a good idea to get an answer from a completely different perspective.

So in summary:

• Contact agents via sites like Trulia and Zillow
• Get them to sign you up to the  MLS and Listingbook services
• Ask them as many questions as you can
• Build a good rapport with them
• Find out if they do property management (it's a good idea to find an agent who can look after the whole process for you)

If you would like to get our agent's contact details or have any questions, then contact us.

The American Real Estate Listing System

The US real estate system is set up quite differently to real estate in Australia. One of the main differences is the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) System. This is where you can find every property that is listed on the American property market. The website is free to use and you can ask your agent to set up a free subscription for you with your buying criteria so that when a property that meets your criteria comes onto the market, you will be notified.

This type of system is really useful for both sellers and purchasers for a number of reasons:

1. For sellers it means that your property will be advertised around the world
2. For buyers it allows you to search, in one location, for all the properties that are currently on the market

A system like this could be very advantageous for Australia, in particular it would allow past sales history to be all kept in a centralised database so the history of a particular property could be known for the next prospective buyer. It would also eliminate the problem of not being able to see all the houses that are available because you're only searching through what is currently on a specific real estate agent's books.