What Is the Difference Between a Real Estate Agent and a Broker?

The contractor plays a critical role in ensuring the successful completion of a project. Therefore, it is important to hire the right contractor. The following are some of the steps to take when hiring a contractor, including:

Â·        Get recommendations

Check from the National Association of Contractors; get a list of the members in your locality and their specialty. Furthermore, you can talk with any building inspector to recommend a contractor who has a reputation of meeting code requirements. You can also ask your friends, family or colleagues to recommend a contractor they have previously used. Moreover, the local lumberyard can help you find a contractor who buys quality material regularly and pays his bills on time.

Â·        Undertake an initial interview

Once you have assembled a list of contractors that you would be willing to consider, make a call to your prospects and ask them several simple questions. Find out whether they handle projects of the size you are considering, and which other projects they are currently handling. Furthermore, find out from them whether they are willing to furnish financial references from banks or suppliers. It is equally important to find out from them whether they will be willing to provide a list and contacts of previous clients.

Â·        Schedule a meeting

Based on the initial interview, select 3 to 5 contractors you would like to meet. The face to face meeting will provide the ideal opportunity to get estimates for the job. In addition, you will get an opportunity to discuss further to get an assurance you are indeed engaging the right company. Your choice should be a contractor you can get along with because he will be in your premises for many months. Once you have assessed their knowledge and personality, make sure to check the local business bureau or the customer reviews to determine whether the contractor has previously had negative reviews with subcontractors and clients.

Â·        Choose the contractor

Investigate the facts, now that you have narrowed your list. Call previous clients, find out from them their experience in the hands of the contractor, and if possible, ask them to show you the finished product. Furthermore, you can consider visiting a project a prospect is currently supervising. See how the work is being done. Look around to see whether the site looks safe and neat. Determine whether the workers look happy doing the job. Are the two terms interchangeable?

In everyday speech people often use the terms real estate agent and real estate broker interchangeably. Both, after all, serve as intermediaries between their clients and the sellers of the real estate that they wish to buy. Strictly speaking, they refer to two different professions that have different educational requirements and whose practitioners perform different functions. This article will explain some of the differences between the two.

Origin of the term broker

The word broker comes from the Middle English term for a small trader, which in turn probably came from the Old French word brochier, meaning to tap or pierce with a pointed tool, possibly with reference to piercing a wine keg. It thus originally meant a wine dealer, but during the Middle Ages the word broker was a pejorative used to refer to a pimp (it is used in that sense, incidentally, in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, where Pandarus is addressed as such in the end).

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