How to Choose a Listing Agent
Whengetting ready to list your Greenville, SC home, the listing agent you choose is a very important decision. There are many factors to consider when choosing an agent who will sell your home quickly and for the top dollar.
Pricing - If you are looking for an agent to list your home at a high purchase price and charge a lower commission than average, it probably will not be in your best interest and may cost you more money in the long run. There are many underlying factors that affect the way a home sells. Pricing a home too high could risk long delays in finding buyers, which means a lot of lost revenue while the house sits idle on the market. Not to mention the longer a home is on the market, the more likely a buyer is to place a low-ball offer.
Commission - Just remember if you ask a listing agent to reduce their commission, that means they may reduce the buyer agent’s commission which could affect the motivation for them to recommend your home.
Skill - It is important to interview an agent before listing with them. Here are some questions to ask when choosing a listing agent:
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How will you price it? A good agent will pull comparables from other homes in the area to gain a good idea of what the home is worth in that market. The best practice is pulling data on homes that have recently sold, are under contract, and currently for sale in your neighborhood. It is important to know the competition in your neighborhood, and to know what homes have recently sold for.
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What is included in your commission fees? Experienced agents usually offer services that are included in their commission fees to help sell a home faster and at a higher price. Services such as paying for a home stager and a professional photographer are common. It’s not a in a homeowner’s best interest for an agent to take pictures of their home with a cell phone to advertise the home on the internet (and you would be surprised how many do!) The National Association of Realtors say that 90% of buyers today search for their home on the internet. Therefore pictures are crucial for that first impression of your home.
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How will you advertise my home? Since today’s market relies on the internet as the most common way for a buyer to choose the homes to visit, online marketing is extremely important. Find out how many websites an agent will be using to advertise your home. Websites such as, Zillow.com, Homes.com, Trulia.com, and Realtor.com are just a few examples. The more the merrier!
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Do you have an assistant? This is like having two agents for the price of one. An agent that has a full time, licensed assistant to handle all the busy work (i.e. paperwork, inputting information in websites, scheduling stagers and photographers) will free up the agent’s time to concentrate on the most important job....getting your home sold!
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What are the statistics for selling your listings? A good agent should know their stats for selling their listings and can present that information to you. If a high percentage of an agents listings expire or never sell, this is not the agent you want to hire. The average days on market (DOM) is important as well. An important quality about an agent is how good they are at negotiating. When an offer comes in, it is crucial for the agent to be able to communicate the value of the home to the buyer’s agent. After an offer is accepted, there are still factors that could make the buyers walk away, such as inspections. If the listing agent is able to communicate well with the buyer’s agent and offer solutions to their concerns, they can keep the deal together, which increases their statistics.
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Who are 3 references for homes that have recently sold? Call those references and find out if they were pleased with their experience. This will give you a great idea whether this person is the right agent for you. Learning what an agent does for their clients is important.
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How will I know what buyers think about my home? A good agent will send you feedback reports on a periodic basis to let you know the activity on your home. Furthermore, if a buyer’s agent sends negative feedback about your home, it is good for the listing agent to know. They can address the situation quickly. Once the negative feedback is addressed, the listing agent should go back to the buyer's agent to let them know the problem has been fixed if the buyers want to view the home again.
For more information contact The Ashley Lewis Team at http://www.SellMyGreenvilleHome.com
Planning to sell your home in Greenville, South Carolina in the near future? Contact the Ashley Lewis Team today to learn more about building a sales attack designed to get results! We are your Greenville, SC real estate specialists at Keller Williams Realty of Greenville South Carolina.
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Ashley Lewis Team of Keller Williams
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http://www.SellMyGreenvilleHome.com
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