Choosing the right Realtor to sell your home can be difficult, especially when they all sound so convincing. The following list of questions will not only help you select the right Realtor, but will also help you get the very best from the agent you choose.
1. Do you work as a full-time Realtor (no other job)? Specifically ask whether the agent has any other jobs (full time or part time). If an agent has another job there will be times when a buyer will be at the mercy of the agent's other job. The agent can not show your home while he or she is working another job. Nor, can the agent respond to phone calls or inquiries from buyers or other Realtors while working another job. It is a plain and simple fact that an agent can not fully represent you at all times if he or she is working another job, whether it's a full time job or a part time job.
2. Do you handle incoming property inquiries? Is the agent available every day, all day, to handle inquiries about your property. See number one above. Does the agent know most of the features of the properties which he or she lists by memory. Ask for an example.
3. How many listings do you have at this time, and how does this work to my benefit? The agent should tell you that often an inquiry on one property will lead to a referral to another property. If the agent has other listings he or she will likely get calls and may refer someone to another property (maybe yours) if the one being inquired about does not meet the Buyer's needs.
4. Do you have a system to ensure that no details are overlooked? Does the agent have a showing book in the office which shows the listing sheet with all of a home's features. Does the agent put your home in the MLS right away and especially on as many websites as possible. What systems does he or she use?
5. How many potential buyers and sellers do you speak with each week? This is very subjective and hard to verify. You may ask the agent if he or she regularly works with a variety of buyers and sellers.
6. How do you encourage other Realtors to sell my home? The agent might say that when another agent calls to make an inquiry or showing appointment on one house he or she asks whether the other agent has considered your house (provided that it's similar). An experienced agent may call other experienced agents and inform them that he or she has a new listing in a particular area. Some agents make flyers and fax them them to other real estate offices. This is actually a waste of marketing money since the faxes are black and white and do little to actually promote the property.
7. How will you set my listing apart from the crowd without costing me more money? The agent should have one or more websites and a means to upload more than one photo of your property. The internet provides the most effective marketing since 80% or more of buyers are actually coming from the internet (according to studies done but he National Association of Realtors). And, internet marketing does not cost the seller anything extra.
8. What is my property worth? What listing price do you recommend? How did you arrive at that price? The agent should be very familiar with a market analysis or CMA and establishing a price based on this. Your house is not worth what you paid for it, nor what you owe on it. It is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. A good agent can explain this concept to you.
9. How will you assist in my relocation plans? A good agent can make a referral for you to a qualified agent in the distant location early on so you can start preparing now for a smooth move. Ask your agent for a referral and let the agent interview the agent on the distant end personally o ensure that the agent will be able to handle your specific needs.
10. Do you have a plan of action designed to sell my property? The agent should be able to quickly tell you the steps that he or she takes, from taking the listing to putting up a sign to entering the data in the MLS to putting the listing on the internet in as many places as possible, to providing monthly feedback, etc.. If the agent is slow to respond to this it's likely that the agent has not had many listings or is otherwise inexperienced.
11. How will you give interested buyers 24 hour access to my property? Again, it is imperative that your property be exposed to internet buyers 24 hours per day on as many websites as possible since the majority of home buyers locate homes on the internet. Interior as well as exterior photos should be posted on the internet for maximum exposure.
12. How will you make information on my property available to out-of-town buyers? See number 11 above. Also, many internet inquiries result in "phone calls" to the listing agent or to the listing office. The agent can offer to email or mail information about your home to out of town buyers if they need more data than what is available on the internet.
13. How do you promote properties on the Internet? A good agent promotes extensively, from realtor.com postings to posting on as many websites as possible, and always with many photos.
14. Are you a Full Time Realtor? This is the most important question actually. That is why I repeated it here.
* Have questions of your own? Email us info@sunsetproperties.net