How to Know if a Local Agent Truly Knows Your Area Real Estate Market
Let's start by admitting that all agents claim to know their local market better than the next agent.
I read real estate agent (and company) ads every day that proclaim, "Call the hometown team. We know the market in your area better than anyone else does". Name an agent or firm that doesn't make that claim. In fact, this is probably the most overstated claim in real estate advertising.
A brokerage or agent can't claim to have superior market knowledge simply because they've been in business in your town for umpteen years. What demonstrates market knowledge is success, not years of experience. In the real estate business, you're only as good as your last sale. And if an agent isn't selling, it calls into question their knowledge of the ever-changing real estate market in your area.
Try asking that agent how often they've sat at a closing table in the past year. Better yet, ask to see their sales stats, including days on market, sold to list price ratios and their average sold price.
Is it a company's number of listings, its inventory, that demonstrates market knowledge? Not if that inventory isn't selling. Again, look at a company's closed sales statistics. Results are the only true and reliable indicator of market knowledge.
It doesn't take much skill or "market knowledge" to price a home or property wherever the seller wants it priced. What requires skill and experience is the willingness and ability to prove to a seller that the seller's desired price is above the current local market. A top-quality agent understands their obligation to tell a seller what the seller needs to hear, instead of what they want to hear.
There's far more to choosing a broker to sell your home than a face on a billboard or a lot of hype about "the hometown team". Knowing what to ask is the most important first step if you hope to succeed in getting your home sold.
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