Many Real Estate Agents will not show properties until you have a letter of prequalification from your preferred Mortgage Professional.
This may be because they waste a lot of time showing properties to unqualified buyers.

It is also common for Realtors working for home sellers to refer potential buyers who are not pre-qualified to a trusted loan officer to prequalify the buyer.

One concept that seems to be growing in popularity is that of discount Realtors. With the discount Realtors the general idea is that the home seller or even the home buyer performs some of the more mundane tasks associated with selling or buying the property in exchange for a discounted fee (in the case of sellers). On the buyers side the discount Realtor may even rebate some of the buyer agents commission to the buyers. As you might imagine, the more traditional, full service Realtors are highly resistant to this concept but it is a trend that has been growing. A sort of "Wal-Mart" effect that shows America's affection with discount merchandisers and service providers.

Some states have jumped in to outline the specific duties which must be performed by licensed real estate agents, including discount brokers.

If you are trying to buy a home you want to secure the services of a realtor with ABR credentials. This means they represent the buyers best interest and not the sellers.

If you are looking to purchase a new home or sell your existing home and you are not sure what realtor to use, contact your local Vienna mortgage professional and they will be able to refer you to one of their trusted realtors. This way you know that the realtor will do everything in their powers to make sure that you are happy during the transaction.