SELLERS, ARE YOU ABOUT TO MAKE A MEGA MISTAKE? CHOOSE YOUR LISTING AGENT CAREFULLY!

SELLERS, ARE YOU ABOUT TO MAKE A MEGA MISTAKE? CHOOSE YOUR LISTING AGENT CAREFULLY!

The choice of a listing agent who can get the job done and sell your home can be one of the most important decisions you'll make.  If someone has misled you to believe that all real estate agents are alike or equally skilled, you may get the chance to discover what bad advice that truly can be.

Most experienced agents can tell you that they've witnessed unwise sellers who didn't put nearly as much effort into the process of choosing someone to sell their home as they would in buying a used car.  Yet the stakes are much higher when you're listing a home and when things go wrong, the consequences can be painful.

Consider a few things you need to know before you hire the wrong agent to list your home:

- Ask a prospective listing agent the question"sold anything lately?"

There's an old saying that goes"nothing succeeds like success".  An agent who hasn't sold anything in a long time may be a risky choice.  You might want to know when is the last time that agent wrote an offer or did a property showing.  Some agents consider themselves "full time" because they sit in their office waiting for walk-in buyers.  But that's no way to choose someone to sell your home.  You want to list your home with a busy agent who isin the business, not someone who dabbles in it.

- Does your agent of choice think technology is for sissies?

Does the agent you're inclined to choose know anything about using the Internet to market a home?  Do they know how to use a digital camera?  Are they marketing homes on social networks or merely relying on lawn signs and free local newspapers to advertise their listings?  The world is changing.  If your favorite agent isn't staying current with technology and marketing, you may be about to make a costly choice.

- Why "le minimum" can be a mistake

Some agents will go to the least possible effort to market your home.  That kind of lazy behavior is a throwback to the good old days when buyers were plentiful, interest rates low and mortgages easy to obtain.  Now roll the calendar forward to today's date.  Today, selling your home requires more than a lawn sign, a cheap black & white flyer and a newspaper ad.  Take time to compare how much marketing effort various agents are willing to do to get their listings seen by the public.  More marketing is always better.

- "If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got"

I've encountered sellers who told me "We bought our place from this agent twenty years ago and we want to give him a chance to sell it first".  Loyalty is a wonderful thing and agents love loyal clients, but has that agent kept up with changes in the real estate industry since you last dealty with him or her?  The automatic assumption that you will list with a former agent, no matter what, can sometimes lead that agent to work less diligently to get your home properly marketed and sold.

All real estate agents are not created equal.  Do your homework before you select a listing agent and save yourself from making a mega mistake.