Finding the Perfect Real Estate Agent for You
When you've decided it's time to sell your home, who will you trust to represent one of the most important financial transactions you can make in life? Is it the soccer mom who handed you her card and asked you to keep her in mind if and when you sell? Is it the listing agent of the house down the street that sold in just days? Is it the first name on the list of Google results? How do you find the ideal match for your real estate needs?
During the previous boom in real estate, it seems that everyone ran out to get a real estate license hoping to make easy money. For example, when you do an Internet search for "Omaha real estate", you've suddenly got pages and pages of agents from which to choose. How do you weed through these never ending lists to find the perfect real estate agent for you?
The best way to find a real agent in Omaha is through referrals. Ask everyone you can for a recommendation and then ask them why they are recommending the person.
Once you have a few solid names, call the real estate agents and schedule appointments to meet. This meeting will, in effect, be your interview of the agent, and is meant to give you a good idea of whether your personalities fit well and whether this agent has the experience and business know-how needed to successfully sell your home.
The first tip to remember is to select an agent based on their marketing plan, commission rate and performance/volume of sales. While an agent may be happy to rattle off the real estate agency's statistics - high number of agents, volume of sales, the number of offices to name a few - your number one concern should be the individual real estate agent that you are interviewing. How long has he or she been an agent? How many sales have they brokered in the past year? How many sales have they had in your area, indicating how well they know your target market; if you live in Papillion you wouldn't want an agent that only does business in Bellevue.
One priceless bit of information to know is the agent's List-price-to-Sales-price-Ratio. In other words, how close to the list price was the selling price, percentage-wise? As a seller, you should be looking for an agent that is close to 100%. This statistic means that the agent knows how to price homes and knows how to negotiate a deal as close to that price as possible.
When selecting a real estate agent, it is also important that the agent provide a detailed, written marketing plan. The agent should be ready to aggressively market your home to the public as well as to other agents. That is what you are paying them for! When you interview your prospective agent, don't forget to ask them how they would market your home. Ask them where and how often the home will be advertised. Don't forget to ask to see a sample flyer, and maybe most importantly (given the growing popularity of searching real estate listings online), how do they plan to market your home on the Internet? At a bare minimum the agent ought to have their own personal website in order to promote their listings.
Lastly, ask the real estate professional for a list of references. There is nothing like talking to a client who has recently used this agent's services to get an idea of how the agent operates. Ask the reference how long their home was on the market and about their overall satisfaction with the Realtor®.
Make sure to cover all your bases when selling your home, and take the extra steps to find an agent who has a proven track record. This will not only give you peace of mind but will hopefully result in a quick sale close to your list price.
Omaha Homes Currently Represented
Free Reports on Omaha Real Estate
Comments(0)