Top Five Questions
You Should Ask An Agent
Before Listing Your Pittsburgh Home With Them
The Days Of Just Slapping A Home Listing On The MLS And Putting A Sign In The Yard Are Over!
1. What is your background and level of real estate experience?
You are looking for a nice mix of full time real estate experience in Pittsburgh versus the enthusiasm, energy and drive of a hungry newer agent. Don't be deceived into thinking that more years of experience will necessarily translate into a better home selling experience for you. Long time veterans of the industry may have lost some enthusiasm for a job that very often requires working at odd hours. Professional experience in other industries is important too. Marketing, advertising, and sales experience would certainly be preferred rather than unrelated fields such as nursing, driving, teaching etc. Many sellers make the mistake of giving their listing to someone simply because they are a friend or acquaintance. This is a tough market for sellers so you really should make this important business decision based on professional criteria.
2. How up to date are you with the most current home marketing applications and techniques? Today almost 90% of home buyers start their search on the internet. You definitely need an agent who knows how to do much more than just slap the listing on their broker's MLS and website. You can not possibly get too much internet exposure for your home listing! Ask what other ways the agent is going to utilize for the syndication of your internet home listing. If you get an uncertain response - he or she may not be your best choice. You need someone who is on the home marketing forefront utilizing techniques including: listing address domain names, individual websites, home listing search optimization, pay per click advertising, home info instant text messaging, 1-800 phone info, pod casting, and video tours on social networking sites like facebook, myspace and u-tube - just to name a few!
3. How many home listings did you sell last year and how many listings are you currently handling? Agents who sell a lot of listings obviously have a achieved a level of success. However, one number that you will probably never know is exactly how many listings those very busy agents lost because they did not have the time to provide a satisfactory level of personal service to their listing clients. For example, lets say an agent (not a team) has 40 listings. Simply divide that agent's time and energy by 40. Plus, that agent would certainly also have buyer clients that they are also working with as well. Essentially your home listing would receive less than 1/40th of that agent's attention! Regarding real estate teams, ask how many listings the team is carrying so you will know just how much attention you can expect to receive from that particular team leader.
4. How often do you communicate marketing updates to your listing clients and by what method? You should expect to receive some form of marketing report from your agent once a week at the bare minimum. They should call, email or both with information regarding feedback from showings / open houses, on-line marketing activity, inbound call activity, and what their marketing plan for the next couple of weeks is for your home listing. Probably one of the biggest complaints we hear when we list a home that has been previously listed with another agent is this:
"After we listed, we almost never heard from our agent". Selling a home in today's market is stressful enough without feeling uninformed about possible prospects and marketing plans.
5. Do I have to sign a listing contract for a year? You should Run (don't walk) away from any agent who tries to have you sign a listing contract for long periods of time. Real Estate contracts often have a default of one year unless a particular time period is written into it. A year is an awfully long time to be tied up with an agent who is not doing a good job for you. A lot of agents will take a listing for as little as one or two months (some for even less). An agent who is confident in the service and marketing that they provide will not hesitate to list for a shorter period of time. About the author: Eric Nichols is a real estate marketing technology trainer and team leader for the www.SearchPittsburghHomes.com Team at Keller Williams Real Estate Professionals Pittsburgh. Contact us at 724-941-9400 X247 for high tech solutions and personalized service.
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