For whatever reason, you’ve decided it’s time to sell your home. You basically have two options; sell yourself or hire a Realtor. Selling a home on your own is your own business, I won’t discuss that here. This post is about helping you decide on a Realtor that’s going to do the best job, for the best money, with the most integrity.
All Realtor’s Are Not Created Equally
The real estate business is the same as most sales professions. Real estate abides by the 80/20 rule; 20% of Realtor’s do 80% of the business. What makes those agents do more business then the other’s? They work harder, there more knowledgeable, and they maintain a high level of integrity.
If you’re a high maintenance person and expect a high level of service, you might not get along with a part time agent. If you want to sell your home fast, you may need an agent that charges a little more, but does more marketing.
One thing you want to avoid when choosing a real estate agent is lack of communication skills. If the agent seems to be timid, un-able to answer your questions, or doesn’t return phone calls in a timely manner, you might want to consider other options.
Choosing A REALTOR Isn’t All About Commission
If you’re interviewing agents to simply find out which one charges the least amount, you’re going to get what you pay for. An agent that is willing to discount their commission may also be willing to discount on their negotiating skills when negotiating on your behalf. Basically, you get what you pay for.
If you’re fine with paying a discounted commission, to receive less service, then more power to you. Maybe you feel that you don’t need all the services some agent’s provide. Many sellers choose to go with a discounted agent and they seem to work fine. Well, they work well until contract negotiations start.
Most discounted brokerage services won’t help you with contract negotiations. You will be left to deal with the legal jargon of the contract, schedule closing dates, setup a time to close with a title company, and you will be dealing directly with the buyers agent.
When I work with a seller as a buyers agent that is trying to negotiate on their own behalf, they usually ask a lot of questions about the contract. I will help them, but what they don’t realize is I am on the buyers side. I may help them understand the contract, but while doing so, I’m working in my buyer’s best interest to get them the best deal. And I usually get the best deal due to the sellers lack of experience.
How Good Is The Realtors Marketing Plan?
The agents you interview should have a detailed marketing plan on how they plan to sell your home. A lot of times, agents will just put your listing on the MLS, and that’s it! This is poor service and you shouldn’t settle for an agent that doesn’t have extensive marketing techniques.
Your agent should be able to provide multiple avenues of marketing:
- MLS Listing.
- Does the agent put your listing on their website?
- Do they have a website?
- Direct mail marketing to clients, previous clients, and your neighbors.
- Print advertising in the local newspapers and real estate books.
- Listing syndication to national real estate websites. (We syndicate to more then 40 websites!)
- Local classified websites.
- Advertise to their buyer database, how big is their database?
In today’s difficult real estate market, a simple MLS inclusion is not going to cut it. Selling a home in a buyer’s market is a new animal. If you want to get the best price in the fastest amount of time, you need the most eyeballs seeing your listing as possible.
What’s The Real Estate Agents Overall Selling Strategy?
Why are you selling? The agent should have a clear understanding of your motives. How fast do you need to get a home sold? Are you relocating? Are you struggling financially? These factors should play a large roll in the way an agent goes about selling your home.
For example, if I have a seller that is relocating and needs to sell fast, I will setup a 3 month program. We will price the home aggressively to attract people in the initial weeks of being on the market. If we don’t have an offer within 10 showings, it’s an automatic price reduction.
If, after 10 showings and a month of market time the home hasn’t sold, we will reduce the price again, or add an incentive to potential buyers such as closing cost assistance. Not all sellers are created equal, and your agent shouldn’t treat you as such.
Ask People You Know
Sometimes choosing a real estate agent to sell your home is easy. Ask a friend or family member you trust about experiences they’ve had with the agents they’ve dealt with. If you get a glowing recommendation from someone you trust, you may not have to interview a lot of agents. However, I would always interview at least two.
Even if you plan on working with one agent, interviewing another agent will give you insight into what makes the agent you chose different from others. And if the agent you chose doesn’t work out, you will have another agent who is able to step up to the plate down the road.
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This is a great list. As I’m a realtor in Calgary up in Canada, I would agree that these are great things to look for. I’d also add that how the agents you interview are marketing, does it match to how you want to see your home advertised and exposed to the market. Are they very paper and ad focused or are they online advertising focused including social media and videos.
Great article!
Jared Chamberlain
“One thing you want to avoid when choosing a real estate agent is lack of communication skills.” – this is huge, and often overlooked. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from clients that have used Realtors previously, and they never hear from them after the listing.
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