How many times have we heard that? You've done your listing presentation for a potential client in a neighborhood where you've spent a lot of time researching home sales, area events and so on but don't get the listing. Why? The sellers have an old family friend who's an agent. You then do a little research on the agent they chose and find out that the agent has never sold a home in that neighborhood.
Yeah, I'd be scratching my head, too.
Sellers - you might think this is to your advantage in that this agent will cut his/her fees because of the friendship or that you're doing the agent a favor by giving them the listing. WRONG.
In last year, I've referred out a couple of listings of sellers because I didn't know the area. Why in the world would I try to sell a home in an area I've never been to or know nothing about? It's not in the best interest of the client. I would prefer to refer out to someone who knows the neighborhood like the back of his hand because he/she will be able to MARKET that home correctly. One listing we referred out was for a home in a 55+ community. This is one segment of housingin Tucson that I'm still learning about but I knew we wouldn't do a good marketing job for the home so it was referred to someone in our brokerage that was knowledgeable in this segment. It's been a good match for the agent and our sellers.
When you are selling your home or even just thinking about it, you need to do yourself a huge favor and find the agent who knows your neighborhood and your area the best. Ask them what they know about the area, how many homes they've sold in the neighborhood - how knowledgeable are they? Take a stroll around the web - use the power of the web and Google to find agents. Read through the blog posts that come up in your search - that's a fantastic way to get to know an agent and learn their areas of expertise.
Think about the other large purchases you've made in your life - a car, new appliances, even travel arrangements. You always research the best company or try to find the best person to talk to, don't you? Why wouldn't you want to do the same when it comes to selling your home?
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