Finding the right real estate agent to list your home and sell it for top price is tricky. Let’s be honest. You probably know someone with a real estate license. Someone who does one or two transactions per year. Someone who works as a realtor in her spare time.
You probably wonder whom you should pick to sell your house or condo?
Should you go with the cousin of a friend or the friend of your neighbor? Should you work with a large, brand name brokerage or a boutique shop? Can anyone guarantee that your house will sell?
There are many questions to answer, and you will have a tough choices to make. Nobody can guarantee that your your house will sell for the price you want.
I can assure you that any house will sell. Even in the worst real estate market. You just may not like the price a buyer is willing to pay.
An experienced real estate agent will improve the chances of selling your home quickly and at the best possible price.
5 Tips to Pick the Best Realtor
Before you hire a real estate agent and sign the listing agreement, consider the following tips. Not only will they help you select an agent that can sell your home. Most importantly, they will save you from all the headaches you have to deal with, if you pick the wrong realtor.
1. Does Your Agent Know the Market?
You want an agent who closed multiple transactions in the past few months. It does not matter whether the realtor represented buyers or sellers. The more transactions she closed, the better.
An active agent knows what properties really sell for in your area. She also knows the condition these homes are in and how long they were on the market.
Using comparable sales your listing agent can recommend price ranges your home should sell for in 30 days, in 60 days, or in 3 months.
2. Marketing
Marketing is one of the most important parts of selling anything. But don’t be fooled by a slick sales presentation.
Any agent will put your house on the MLS. However, there are still realtors that don’t use detailed descriptions or more than one picture.
Some real estate agents claim they use 30 or 40 different marketing methods to find a buyer for your home. That sounds impressive.
Don’t be fooled by Internet and social media marketing claims. Everyone can use them for free. The devil is in the detail.
Most agents don’t have a clue of how to gain exposure, drive traffic and capture leads on the Internet. Only very few agents have a blog and an email buyers list. Most do not understand how to rank in Google’s search results and on popular real estate websites.
3. Communication
Many home owners list their house with a large brokerage. Often they find that the agent who “sold” them on listing with that brokerage never talks to them nor to potential buyers. Instead, assistants handle buyer calls during business hours. And nobody answers the phone on weekends.
Does your listing agent pick up the phone on a Saturday evening or Sunday morning?
Answering the phone and talking to prospective buyers is the most important part of selling a home. I found countless buyers, because I answered the phone in the evening and met the buyer on Sunday morning.
4. Straight Talk
There are some realtors that will tell you anything to get a listing. The most common promise is a high sales price.
I don’t know why some agents would list a property for more than it’s worth. They either don’t understand the market or they just want to convince you to list with them.
A real estate agent who promises to sell your house for more than market value or who is afraid to ask you to reduce the list price to get more showings, is doing you a big dis-service.
Your home may sit on the market for a long time without showings. This will keep future buyers from making offers, because they believe that something is wrong with the house.
5. Brand Name
The brand of a national brokerage can be a benefit. Realtors will brag about the national exposure of their brand, how many homes their brokerage sells, and how many buyers visit their website.
Don’t be fooled. In the end, it’s your listing that counts. Large, brand-name brokerages do not have an advantage over an experienced, dedicated real estate agent when it comes to customer service.
Anyone looking for a house will find your listing on the MLS or on a real estate website like Zillow or Trulia. However, buyers will only look at your home, if they can get quick and easy access. And that’s the responsibility of your listing agent.
BONUS TIP: Does Your Listing Agent Sell?
I know many real estate agents who call themselves “listing agents”. This means that they list houses, but they don’t sell them. They put the house on the MLS and wait for another agent to find a buyer.
This is a convenient way to conduct business, as the listing agent doesn’t have to run around and show homes. Pure listing agents don’t want to deal with buyers.
Many real estate agents do not sell any of their own listings.
I am proud to say that over the past 2 years I found the buyers for 35% of my listings. That may not sound like a lot to you. So, why don’t you ask the realtor listing your house for their number. You will see that 35% is huge!
One Last Recommendation
Don’t be fooled by a slick sales presentation, a cut in the sales commission, the promise of an inflated sales price, or a big brand name. None of these will sell your home.
A dedicated, full-time real estate agent will!
Give me a call for a free evaluation of your home. I would be glad to work with you!