Let's admit it. Selecting a realtor is like picking an accountant, doctor, insurance broker, or an attorney. We really don't know if they will do the best job for us until after the fact. We select on 'personality fit', or we believe their slogans like- 'neighborhood specialist', or 'short sale specialist'. And of course, the best is if we get a referral. (Then we have some leverage. If we don't end up satisfied we can blame someone else, or at least complain to them. If they do well for us, we will always be grateful, and maybe pass the name of the realtor on ourselves.)
Sometimes when we go to an open house, we avoid the realtor who's asking us to 'sign in' with suspicions that we're going to be on every mailer, e-mail and phone call to ask for our business.
And we realtors have to admit that, unless you know another realtor by reputation, then we really don't know each other's capabilities until we do a transaction with them. There is a standard process to execute a purchase offer, or execute a marketing plan against a listing, but we must all admit that no two transactions are alike. There's always issues or questions to resolve. The experienced realtor anticipates and some of the issues are resolved before they ever happen. An experienced realtor is more likely to have smoother transactions that are also representative of the best deal for their client.
As a buyer, having a list of questions might help distinguish one agent from another. Interview your potential realtor with very open ended questions, such as:
- How long have you been a licensed realtor? (only an indicator, someone can have 20 years licensed and have done two transactions, so that won't always directly relate to experience).
- What type of transactions have you done in the last year?
- What was the most challenging part of one of your transactions?
- What can you tell me about the marketplace right now in (name the city)?
- (get specific) I am trying to accomplish XXXX, what advice would you give me in .....?
Get the picture? We realtors love to talk about our business. We should love Real Estate because it's an exciting market! A buyer should get a good picture of the knowledge and passion a realtor has, and to get a good perspective on how this realtor fits their needs. And there's nothing wrong with connecting with the realtor who's hosting the open house. Just make sure and ask the same questions, because when realtors are busy, we're not sitting at open houses. So more newer agents are doing the open houses (though not always) so interview them like you would any other realtor.
As a seller, you can be more specific as to your objective in selling the home. But be honest, if you don't trust the realtor that you hire to be a professional, you'll always be suspicious of their motives when advising you to adjust the marketing or pricing on the home. Ask the realtor for what they might include in a Customized marketing plan set of ideas. Once you're seriously considering them, you can ask for the documentation, but this should reflect their ability to market your home, and how they would approach it. There should be a plan. They should have insight into market pricing, but also how to address two issues:
- How to optimize the number buyers who visit your home- (this would include website hits, but if the buyers don't physically visit your home, then they're not going to make an offer.)
- How to optimize the experience once they visit your home- staging, decluttering, how to highlight the key features of your home...
I had broken down my work effort into 3 categories. It was the best I could do to illustrate what we do to someone who doesn't quite understand how to distinguish the difference.
- 25% of my responsibility is in finding the home (or matching a buyer to a home). We all admit that many find the home on the internet on their own, but can they determine if it's a good value? is it structurally sound? what is the history on it? IS IT A FICTIONAL SHORT SALE LISTING (and going to waste the buyer's time???)
- 50% is negotiating the transaction- negotiating the best price/terms for my client, project management of all efforts, action items, ....all of the unknown factors that come up, and
- 25% is in making sure we are compliant under state and federal regulations. In other words, making sure all parties are fully informed in the transaction, all documentation is complete and there will be no outstanding items after the close of escrow.
That 50% in negotiating skills delineates the 'casual' agent from the professional. And if the client asks some questions, they might pick the right agent for them'. What's been your experience? Anyone have a better way that they describe how to select a realtor?
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