Should You Hire Your Friend As Your Real Estate Agent?

Well this is a tricky situation isn't it? You're either looking to buy or sell a home and one of your good friends is a real estate agent. Are you necessarily obligated to use your friend as your agent when you know that it would be in your best interest not to?

Not all real estate agents are committed and dedicated agents. A lot of them only work part time and aren't serious about the game. When it comes to buying or selling something that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, you'll want to have a sharp agent working by your side that has stayed up-to-date with all of the latest technology and real estate trends in the area.

Breaking it to your friend gently

You certainly aren't going to want to tell your friend "Look, I need a better agent and one that is more dedicated to help me sell my home". This would be a recipe for disaster and an instant end to the friendship.

A better way to handle the situation would be to tell your friend that you never do business with family, friends or acquaintances. If you haven't yet established this as a guiding rule in your life, you may want to consider establishing it now anyway. There can be a lot of problems that develop when you mix personal and business situations together and many times things don't end up going well in the end.

When you approach it this way it no longer becomes something personal. You are laying the blame for your decision on a cardinal rule that you believe in. Any good friend would accept what you have to say without feeling personally insulted and having it affect the friendship.

You're going to have a variety of friends in your life and perhaps new people entering your family through marriage. It does not mean that you have to do business with anyone within your circle at any time. You can, of course, especially if the person is a hotshot professional, but just tread carefully. Make sure that everything is understood before heading into a business negotiation with friends or family and as always, make sure that everything gets put in writing first.