I’m having trouble deciding whether or not I should reveal what the major themes of the next episode of Khalid – The Untold Story is going to be. The reason for that is because, while I have many topics planned, my focus at this point is to preserve the secrecy of the story and keep it as true to the source material as possible. Here’s why.
In the United States and in several European countries (including the United Kingdom), real estate agents cannot represent properties to prospective clients unless they have been trained in the legalities of the industry. In fact, even when agents do choose to pursue real estate sales, they are usually required to take a number of continuing education courses about real estate law. So how does a real estate agent to learn about a person’s legal rights when selling a home? By going through personal background checks and doing research on the subject matter, of course.
Well, in the UK, and in several other countries, the simple fact is that, due to a change in law, all real estate agents can now represent clients regardless of whether or not they have lived in the same property as their clients’ family members. This means that agents can begin representing families right from the very beginning. And they are allowed to sell the properties immediately after they’ve been purchased by their clients.
One of the first things that every single agent will learn in order to operate with such a change in policy is how to authenticate a buyer’s identity. Since we’re talking about selling homes, the agent has to know everything that the buyer is supposed to tell them so that they don’t actually make any mistakes.
The agent may then conduct a background check on the client’s current residence and the neighborhood surrounding their current property. These are important because the agent will need to determine if the client has lived there in some fashion and also in which neighborhood they currently live in.
Most regular real estate agents in this country know a lot about where the current owner of a home resides, but very little about what the neighborhood looks like and how much of the neighborhood has changed over the past ten years. When your agent has access to detailed information on your new home’s neighborhood, you’ll be able to navigate through those unfamiliar streets much more easily and that means that you can arrive at your new home safely and without incident.
Of course, it doesn’t take a great real estate agent to figure out if a client will be trustworthy or not before he or she hires a new agent. But what will happen when the agency you hired comes calling, the year is already almost over, and you suddenly find yourself stuck with a problematic client who will only buy the home because the potential buyers of your old property have already been informed that the home they’ve been targeting for sale has just gone on the market for sale to a completely different and unaffiliated party.
The last thing your client will want to do is confront you with an inaccurate history on their credit report, and then he or she will call you a liar. In fact, the more suspicious your client becomes, the more likely it is that they’re already moving on to the next potential house to be sold in the area. That means that you may never see your new agent again, and you’ll be left completely in the dark about whether or not your client will be a good and trustworthy potential purchaser.
