This morning I met with a third Realtor to get a feel for their process and personality. After already meeting with two other Realtors this week the butterflies were gone and I knew what I was looking for. I arrived at the office a few minutes early and was greeted by a friendly receptionist who paged the Realtor I had an appointment with. Within a few minutes I was met in the lobby and walked back to an office to meet. It was almost immediately that I could feel that something just wasn’t right.

There was a bit of forced small talk, but instead of telling me a bit about themselves I was given a binder and a folder full of booklets, pamphlets and the like and it was suggested that I read over them when I get a minute. While the materials were impressive, and of higher quantity and quality than I received from the other Realtors I met with, the “do your homework and get back to me” vibe I got was a big turnoff. The rest of the meeting it felt like I had to try to force the conversation to move along. At one point it got so bad that there was just silence. I made one more attempt to get the Realtor to engage me, learn more about me, what kind of house I was looking to get into, why I wanted to buy, anything, but it just wasn’t happening.

In addition to feeling like the Realtor just wanted to get me out of there, I also learned that I would not be working just with the agent, that I would be passed around to a team, which didn’t leave me feeling very good. In the end, the meeting was less than half an hour and the experience felt rushed at best. Before I got to my car in the parking lot I knew this Realtor wasn’t the one for me. I can guess at why I wasn’t received better than I was, or maybe that’s just this person’s style, but there’s no sense in dwelling on it.

With today’s interview as a non-contender I had two very strong candidates from earlier this week to consider. Both had things about them that made them better than the other. It was a very difficult decision. How do you choose between amazing and fantastic? In the end I would have no problem recommending either Realtor to someone who was looking to buy a home, but since I can only choose one person to represent me as my Buyer’s Agent I made a call to who I felt would be best for me.

I made a call to her mobile phone and asked if she had a moment to answer a question related to our meeting earlier this week and she said sure. I let her know that after considering the candidates that I had interacted with I felt that she would be the best person to represent me as a buyer and asked if would she like to work with me. I could tell that this was not the question she had anticipated. She warmly accepted and I am happy to say that I will be working with Tammy Huk of Coldwell Banker Hertiage Real Estate.

The next step is for me to shop around for a mortgage. I’m armed with an extensive list of questions, so hopefully I’ll be able to find a lender that will be good to work with and can qualify me at a good rate. There are a few lenders that I’m considering, but if you have one that you’ve had a good experience with, please let me know.