Describe Your Dream House
It is essential that in your house hunt you establish and commit to your priorities in advance. You should insist that any house you offer to buy meets at least your most important priorities. Our Dream House Profile worksheet will help you identify those house features that are most important to you. It lists all major categories such as upper price limit, number and type of rooms, location and more. Just outline the specifications for your dream house in our Dream House Profile Worksheet. This worksheet will be extremely helpful for your real estate agent to best cater to your needs.

Get Access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
Since most homes for sale in Marin are listed with real estate brokers through the MLS, one of the easiest ways to research the current market is by utilizing the internet. MLS access will help you learn about the local real estate market by showing you new listings, price reductions and sales data. Take advantage of us; we provide free MLS access and an innovative MLS Alert service that notifies you of new listings matching your criteria instantly. Click here for Full MLS Access to all homes for sale in Marin.

Working with a Real Estate Agent
The smartest way to find a house is to work with an experienced local real estate agent. A knowledgeable agent will have the inside track to the market, and will be invaluable in helping your house purchase run smoothly. There are a few different kinds of real estate agents but we recommend you choose a buyer's agent because they represent you exclusively, and have a fiduciary duty of the utmost care, integrity, honesty and loyalty to the buyer. A competent buyer's agent will do the following:

• Legwork - A good real estate agent will do lots of legwork for you.
  This includes personally checking out all listed houses that meet
  your criteria, providing additional property details, neighborhood
  statistics, general research and more.
  
  
• Business experience - A knowledgeable agent will have
  successfully completed many transactions so that his or her
  experience anticipates the process and helps make your house
  purchase run smoothly.
  
  
• Access to broker's in-house listings - Agents, like us, who are
  employed by a leading broker have access to properties that are
  either not listed in the MLS or have yet to appear in the MLS
  database.
  
  
• Knowledge of related professionals - Your agent is a great resource
  and can refer you to lenders, title companies and inspectors that are best suited for you.
  
  
• No cost to buyer - The services a real estate agent provides are free
  to the buyer.

What to Look for in a Real Estate Agent
You should judge the following qualities when considering an agent:

• Integrity
• Good credentials
• Sells real estate full-time
• Affiliated with a top local firm
• Good rapport with other agents