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Everyone should have, or at least know, a good real estate agent when it comes to homes for sale in Bozeman. There are a lot of outstanding agents who will be responsive to your questions or concerns and who continually earn the right to your business, but there are also a lot of inadequate agents who can make the process feel overwhelming, creating a negative experience.
Who you choose to represent you in a real estate transaction is a crucial step in the process. A question that is frequently asked is whether using a large, corporate or franchised brokerage house is better than using a smaller independent brokerage firm. While large brokerage houses, like Coldwell Banker, are impressive with their nationwide presence, it’s important to realize that you are not hiring a company, you are hiring an individual agent.
An agent’s fiduciary responsibility is to represent you and to deliver on all contractual (and non-contractual) promises. But a good agent does more than that. Your agent should make you feel as though you are their only client. They should return your calls and answer all of your questions expeditiously and accurately. They should have a solid marketing strategy when listing your home, and they should be well versed in the local market when showing you properties. They should be good at negotiating…and they should have excellent relationships with lenders, title companies, inspectors, and appraisers – because it’s easier to close a transaction when all parties see eye to eye.
Enter the independent, boutique brokerage. The smaller, local, Bozeman real estate offices tend to focus on quality over quantity, making you feel like a VIP. When you work with the boutique broker, you are often working with (or at least close to) the founder of the company. Nobody is going to take more pride in a company than a founder.  Not only are the founders of small real estate companies more vested in their company and service, they are often more creative and resourceful than the average agent. They usually build their business plans and real estate marketing strategies from the ground up and go to great lengths to ensure that their plans are executed with care and diligence.
As an example, at Montana 406 we build a plan based around your wants and needs and are nimble and quick enough in our decision-making processes to create and manage plans that are innovative and customized…and pliable enough to be edited and strengthened along the path. No longer do you have to suffer through just entering your Bozeman home for sale into the local MLS and running some print advertising and open houses. We now have specialized databases, social media niche campaigns, syndication both nationally and internationally to the most popular and most-used real estate search sites, customized virtual tours, video campaigns, hard-hitting open house campaigns, and more…
Consider that for many first time homebuyers (and even repeat homebuyers), the process of buying and selling is just intimidating. Where to begin? The smaller broker values each and every customer and knows that their success depends on understanding the anxiety and need for clear information that many clients – especially the inexperienced – want and need. It’s not that the larger companies can’t provide a good agent, it’s that the smaller brokers are organized around customer service in a way that the larger ones are not. And the smaller brokers are more willing and able to adapt to the changing marketplace – even the founder of a former real estate empire, Barbara Corcoran, suggests this nimbleness is the way of the future in real estate - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/realestate/13cov.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1
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Finally, buying and selling a home in Bozeman is a highly personal experience. You want to make it a successful and happy one. It might be worth considering the value that a smaller broker can offer by exploring the smaller local real estate firms, like Montana 406 – www.Montana406.com
Posted by PollyAnna Snyder
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