The real estate market has been booming lately, both across the country and here in New Mexico. If you’ve been waiting for a moment to dip your toes in, then consider this to be your sign. With that said, though, there are a lot of things that can make stepping into the world of real estate difficult.
That’s why brokerages exist – to help us through those difficult situations. Navigating through the real estate market, whether we’re buying or selling, can be a bit of a pain. This is especially true if we have never bought or sold a home before (although that isn’t overly common, it can certainly be the case).
If you’d like to know more about what brokerages are, you can check out this page: https://my505home.com, but in the meantime, we’ll be delving into what you can expect if you’re aiming to buy or sell in New Mexico – particularly, here in Albuquerque.
What is a Real Estate Brokerage?
Before you start to delve into the world of real estate, it’s important to understand that there are differences between brokers, realtors, and agents. In fact, agents typically work for brokers – they can’t really do what they’re doing on their own. Additionally, “realtor” is an exclusive term saved for members of the NAR (National Association of Realtors).
Who should we look for when we’re aiming to purchase or list a home, then? The answer isn’t always the same, but a brokerage will often be the first stop for many consumers who aren’t agents themselves. After all, contacting a broker tends to be easier than trying to connect with a specific agent.
Of courses, here in New Mexico, all agents are licensed as brokers as required by law. However, a brokerage firm will likely have a vast network of agents for you to work with and/or choose from, so that’s one advantage to utilizing them.
Buyer’s Brokers
Now, there are two main types of brokers that you can work with, and the decision will simply come down to whether you’re aiming to buy or sell a property. We’ll start with how it works for buyers. The list of things they can bring to the table will probably sound pretty familiar to you if you’re familiar with real estate at all.
Primarily, they’re in charge of showing buyers properties that they may be interested in purchasing. You’ll want to talk to the broker about the sorts of qualities you’re looking for out of a new home or property, and they’ll take that information, comb through the current listings, and put together a portfolio of sorts of properties that you may be interested in.
They can also assist with things like price negotiations between the buyer and seller as well as helping the buyer with any paperwork that needs to be completed and filed. This does include ensuring that the inspections are done properly.
Seller’s Brokers
Naturally, the other type of broker is the kind that works with the seller. Typically, they cannot do both at the same time as it could be a conflict of interest, but there are some exceptions to that. Most likely, that isn’t something you’ll need to worry about – but you can learn about it on this page.
Brokers for sellers generally post the property listings onto any websites that their clients request and handle open houses, as just a few examples of what they can bring to the table. Additionally, they’ll help the seller with any negotiations as necessary.
Often, they’ll end up posting advertisements on social media platforms as well to drum up more interest in your property. As you probably know, social media is a driving force behind sales these days, so this can be quite effective – especially when you take into account the audience that they’re posting to. They usually will share any properties they’re helping to sell with other brokers and agents in the area to get the property seen by as many people as possible.
Ultimately, the goal of a brokerage, be they for buyers or for sellers, is to help expediate the process of buying and selling real estate. It can be difficult to do so alone, after all, so bringing in outside help can really make things smooth.
Picking a Broker
Perhaps the most important part of the real estate journey is selecting a broker that fits your needs. What makes one stand out amongst the rest, though? Part of picking top ranked real estate brokerages here in New Mexico is finding ones that have access to a wide network of contacts. This can help you either find your dream property or help you to sell a property faster and without nearly as much hassle.
One thing that you may want to look for is if they offer exclusive listings. This allows you as a buyer to tap into that network if you choose to work with one, and you can see some examples of this in the resources that we’ve provided (as well as some examples of top realtors in the greater Albuquerque area). Exclusive listings are also great from the perspective of the seller, because being listed as such helps get more buyers interested.
In general, it’s not hard to see why deciding to work with a broker rather than trying to buy or sell on your own can be beneficial.
