Choosing the right Realtor

The number one mistake people often make when choosing a real estate agent when selling their home is selecting someone based solely on the fact that they’re a friend or family member who is also a real estate agent. It’s important to let your friend or family member know that you will be interviewing other real estate agents – if for no other reason but to make your friend or family member be on their game to prove they are worthy of selling your home. Remember that this is a business decision, not a personal one.

Following are four keys points to keep in mind when selecting a real estate agent:

1) Interview more than one real estate agent. This is often a big mistake people make. It is valuable to hear a couple different viewpoints on the pricing of your home, the strategy proposed for marketing and the track record of the candidates. Also remember that if you’re going to be working closely together for a few weeks or longer, it’s important that you also like the person you will be dealing with. If they turn you off in the first meeting what do you think it will be like after three weeks of continuous contact and meetings?

2) Write out your questions in advance. Do some research, and remember this is an interview. The Internet is full of informative sites that can be used to gather some questions that you should ask your candidates. It also allows you to reflect on their answers later during the deliberation phase to see who you will choose.

3) Innovative and fresh marketing strategies. Make sure you go with the real estate agent who has a broad, unique and innovative marketing strategy. If the strategy is holding open houses and advertising in the local real estate print media, they’re not offering you anything different than the average agent. Today’s marketing strategy must have a solid Internet and/or social media component as this is the way buyers today are shopping for homes. A staggering 80%+ of buyers today shop online for their real estate. Opt for the agent who comes up with more strategies to get your home in front of as many potential buyers as possible.

4) Price strategy. This is a big one. Make sure you ask lots of questions on how they came up with the proposed price for your home. Try not to get in the way here. Many homeowners have an inflated view of the value of their home and weak real estate agents will just agree with your over-priced value in order to get the listing, and then just beat you down over the coming weeks to get your price where it should have been. It will sell weeks later than it could have if you had priced it right in the first place. If a real estate agent does not respectfully disagree or challenge you on your inflated price, then you need to ask yourself if this is the right professional for you. If you have chosen your candidates wisely, you are dealing with someone who has sold many homes in your area and knows more about the price than you do. Trust the experts.