According to the National Association of Realtors, 83 percent of home buyers work with the first agent they speak with. That’s great news for inexperienced agents who work really hard to be that first agent you speak with; it’s not so great for the client who doesn’t know how little experience that agent may have with understanding the market, negotiations, contracts, construction, appraisal and financing.

Military families have unique home-buying situations that confound most Realtors who are used to working with the civilian market. We buy a home in two or three days because we can only get so much time for house-hunting, and many of us buy sight unseen; the average civilian family takes two to three months to select that right house.

We’re also not buying the house for ourselves — we’re buying for whoever will buy it or rent it from us in two or three years, when Uncle Sam says it’s time to go. We won’t have the luxury of remaining in the house if we can’t sell it or rent it, so that means we can’t necessarily buy that quaint little property with so much character, or a home that would otherwise limit the number of future buyers and renters.

We need to work with Realtors who understand the unique needs of military families, and that means we need to ask the right questions when we first speak with a Realtor. Don’t assume anything!

The following list is a good starting point:

1. What’s your experience with working with home buyers (Remember, many agents work just with listings, some with just renters, and others work as showing agents)?

2. How many homes do you typically sell per year? At MilHousing Network, we typically look for Realtor partners who have sold 30 or more homes in a year to ensure they are current on market conditions and have good relationships with the listing agents.

3. How much of your business is with VA loans? Again, for partners, we’re looking for at least one VA loan closing per month.

4. Do you have a lender that you recommend for working with a VA home loan? A Realtor who works with many VA loans will have a trusted lender who will take especially good care of you because they have a good relationship with that agent. Ask that lender about their experience with the agent, too.

5. In what part of the city do you sell most of your homes? If it’s far from base or a luxury market, that agent may not have the right relationships in the areas you may be looking; a good agent will refer you to a partner agent who works within commuting distance to your new installation — or works within your price range.

There are many other questions that you could ask in your initial consult with your Realtor, but if you get the responses you’re looking for from these five, chance are you’re off to a great start.

Karina Gafford is a military spouse (seven-time PCS-er), mom of two boys and co-founder of MilHousing Network, a nationwide real estate platform for military families that works to combat military spouse unemployment. She oversees the platform’s flagship real estate team in San Antonio. Learn more about MilHousing Network here, or via Facebook.

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