Deciding to hire a Real Estate Agent is a difficult decision. They are not all the same and who you pick can determine how quickly your home sells. While a lot of Sellers tend to think that the commission is the most important thing about hiring a Real Estate Agent, there are a lot more things to consider!
Choosing between a Real Estate Agent based upon commission alone could leave thousands of dollars in your pocket, but you could be sacrificing more long in the long run. You really need to meet with several agents to see who will offer you the best marketing package. Selling your home is all about marketing and impressing Buyers!!
All agent will probably do the following things:
> Put a For Sale Sign in front of your home.
> Have Professional Pictures taken of your home and create a virtual tour.
> Put your home into the MLS.
> Host an Open Home for your house.
A GREAT agent will do the following things:
1. Have a professional staging company meet with you to discuss the best way to show off your home.
In today's technology driven world, people see pictures of your home online way before they ever decide to visit. A professional staging company will give you a list of things to do and create an action plan on what the Seller needs to do and what the staging company will do. You would be amazed at what a pop of color, the right art work, the right furniture can do to impress Buyers into wanting to see your home and buy your home.
A great agent, will contribute to the cost of staging your home! They know that it's worth every penny and will help you sell your home faster. Don't let your home be bland or over cluttered - make it shine and make it impress Buyers!
2. Will be honest and helpful!
If your carpeting has a large seam bulging in the middle of a large room, a great agent will be honest and let you know that it will detract a Buyer. A great agent will also be helpful and get a handyman to come in and fix your carpet before taking pictures of your home.
If your home needs touch up paint, needs a deep cleaning, needs carpet steaming, or anything else, they will tell you. A great agent will look at your home with a critical eye and let you know what a Buyer will think when they walk through your home. You need an honest agent who knows what today's Buyers think about when viewing a home.
3. Will discuss photography and home clutter!
Every family has clutter, it's part of living! You might think your home doesn't, but that's because you live there and the things in your home have naturally become a part of your house. But, as you start the process of selling your home, a Great agent will let you know what needs to be packed up and put in the garage until your home is under contract. Kids toys all over the house are one thing that just makes your home look unattractive to Buyers. It makes the home seem not big enough for stuff. Hide your toys, put them in boxes, move them out of your pictures!!!! If your family room has become a toy room, put it back into an adult room - move the kids table & chairs, kids rug and make it look attractive to potential Buyers. Make your family room back into an adult space!! Put in a large attractive rug and coffee table. A great agent will discuss photo's and help move stuff out of a picture so it looks great online!!! Selling a home is all about the photo's in today's world because your photo's are everywhere online!!
4. Will have your home online with it's own website and text marketing!
How do you know you are attracting Buyers online? A great agent will provide you with a single property website that markets just YOUR home! It separates your home from the rest that are for sale! Buyer's will drive by your home and want to know more info - what better way to provide the Seller with prospective buyer's than to have an instant text message system that sends the Buyer a link to your property website and also collects the phone number for the Buyer for the agent to follow-up. You don't want your agent to just advertise themselves when they get your listing, you want them to advertise your home! Having a single property website, will mean that all online traffic will be driven to your specific home and not to their own personal website.
5. Will advertise on Social Media and have a strong online presence!
Why would you pick an agent who only has 10 followers on Twitter or one who hasn't posted for 6 months? Why pick an agent who doesn't have their own Facebook or Google+ page for their business? A great Agent will have a strong online presence! They will have a Linked-In Account, a Facebook Account, Google + Account and a Twitter Account! You want an connected agent who knows how to leverage their social media to get your home seen before hundreds of online contacts.
A great agent will create targeted Facebook ads to get your home seen by thousands of Facebook users! A great agent know that targeted Facebook advertising works and will help you find a Buyer for your home quickly!
6. Will advertise your home online and in blogs!
A great agent will post your home for sale in as many website as possible! Craigslist, Backpage, Oodle, Tumblr, Active Rain, Classified Ads, Zillow, Trulia, Postlets, Yahoo, Redfin, Realtor.com, Hotpads & More! The more online advertising your agent does, the more your home is seen!! Selling your home is all about marketing!! If an agent that you interview doesn't do any of these style advertising, then maybe they aren't the right agent for Selling your home!
7. Will make your Open Home an Event!
A great agent will mail out postcards to your current neighborhood inviting your neighbors to come and see your home!By making your home an event and providing snack and a special neighborhood only invite, it will make them want to come see your home! Neighbors are a great resource for potential Buyers! They all know someone who would like to move into their neighborhood!
A Real Estate Agent takes an upfront financial hit to their pocket-book each time they take a listing. That's why most agents will only do the minimum to get your home sold. They don't have the funds to help you sell your house. A great Real Estate Agent will be willing to invest in you and your home! That's why just looking at the bottom line of commission, is not the best way to determine who to pick for a Real Estate Agent!
There are so many factors in getting your home sold and making a bad choice in your Agent will hurt you! It will cause your home to sit on the market for longer than normal. The first 3 weeks of selling your home are critical to getting it sold fast! If it sits for longer, your home becomes "stale" and it will force you to lower your asking price to try and bring those potential buyers back. The longer it sits the more frustrated you will be and wonder why ... one reason a home doesn't sell is because they don't have the right Agent!
Selling your home is a huge undertaking and you need someone who knows how to sell your home! Don't settle for saving money - it will cost you more long term! Hire one who can get your home SOLD!
To learn more about my marketing plan and how I can get your home Sold, give me a call at (425) 292-5000 or contact me at realtorkatricia@gmail.com.
Want to know more about Selling? Check out these 9 Steps to Selling Your Home.
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