Ready to List Your Home with a Real Estate Agent? Ready to place your home on the market? Do you understand the process and details of selling a home? Before you list with an agent, educate yourself on all the factors that will affect your profit. Be as informed as possible, so you can make the absolutely best business decision. After all, the sale of your home is a business decision! This report is designed to empower you with critical information necessary to evaluate an agent’s qualifications and help you identify the professional top producer. The more meticulous you become in selecting the right agent, the higher your profits will be! Start by doing some research. Find out who the most active agents are in your market. Look at advertising to see how professional it is. Ask friends and family for referrals. Call local real estate offices and speak with the manager for their recommendation with the office Top Producing agents. Review agents’ websites for their qualifications (www.RobertRadcliffe.com). Then compile your list of agents to consider. 1. The Phone Interview - Place a call to each of the agents on your list. Document how quickly they returned your call. Remember: they will be returning calls to your prospective homebuyers. Do an initial ‘feel out’ interview over the phone so when you meet, you will both be prepared. 2. Marketing Plan - Insist on a step-by-step marketing plan of how your property is going to be marketed. Look for innovative ways to attract homebuyers. Demand 24-hour advertising, lead accountability and tracking services. These services exist and you should insist upon them. Keep in mind that every agent has their own system to sell a home. Even within the same brokerage firm, agents’ Marketing plans vary. Just like athletes belonging to the same team, each agent/player has statistics and talents of their own. 3. Evaluate Their Team - Top producers will have a staff that works solely for them (or better stated, for you). Experienced agents that do a large dollar volume typically have a supporting staff. In addition, they will have better relationships with lenders, title and escrow reps. The agents’ team of professionals is there for your benefit. Furthermore, an agent with a team can simply offer more customer service! 4. Evaluate Their Track Record – Review the agent you considering track record of selling homes. This should include the number of homes the agent has listed each year, how many of those homes have sold and the average price of homes they sell. If an agent is typically selling condominiums for $500,000 they may not be best equipped to list your multi-million dollar home. Additionally, study the average sale price vs. list price ratio for the agents’ past sales. This ratio reflects how close to the asking price their listings are selling for. In my opinion, the agents’ proven track record should be the most important factor with your hiring decision. My father would always say to me when I was a boy, “You can’t dispute results.” 5. Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) - Request a complete CMA of homes in your neighborhood that are similar to yours currently listed, in escrow and that have recently sold. It is the responsibility of your agent to be familiar with these homes in order to suggest the best listing price. Your agent’s guidance in pricing is critical! Make sure your agent supports their price opinion with the CMA data. Do not make the mistake many homeowners make by solely hiring the agent that suggests the highest quote for your home. Unfortunately, a lot of agents will suggest unrealistic prices to homeowners because they believe that is what the owner wants to hear in order to get the business. Hire the agent that best supports the reasons why your home should be listed at the suggested price. 6. Don’t Hire a Discount Agent - With one of your largest financial transactions, wouldn't you want the security of knowing you have a well-trained professional protecting you through your sale? One agent over another can create more appeal, attract more attention and inevitably create a higher sales price. To hire a discount broker of let's say 1 -2% discount off typical commissions could cost you double if an experienced - well trained agent could have produced a 5-7% higher sales price. It comes down to "penny wise, dollar foolish." If you want the best price, hire the best! (Request our report; “The Myth of lower commissions – how lower fees actually cost sellers money.” Written by Steve Shull of Performance Coaching) 7. Advertising – Is it well written and professional? How many ad mediums do they utilize? Your agent should be advertising in at least the Los Angeles Times and local newspapers weekly. Remember: the quality of the advertising will directly influence how well your home will be perceived. 8. Local Experience – Investigate the agents’ qualifications in the number local home sales the agent does per year, and the average sales price. You want to be assured the agent is frequently selling homes that are comparable to yours. Having an experienced local agent as your representative can save you thousand of dollars in knowledgeable negotiations and contract protection. 9. Direct Mail - Investigate the agents’ capacity to send direct mail or email to prospective buyers and their agents. Does the mail piece motivate prospects and agents to respond? Do they just cold call or do they have a mechanism to create proactive leads and call on those prospects? Are their mail pieces professional? Again, having an agent that can effectively stream line the marketing to highly qualified prospects and their agents is the key to receiving the highest interest in your home, therefore creating the highest sales price possible. 10. Communication – Your agent needs to keep you fully informed during the marketing and escrow process. There is nothing more stressful than being uninformed, especially during such large financial and emotional transaction. You and your agent should have defined and scheduled weekly appointments for you to discuss the marketing efforts and results. We sincerely hope these tips and ideas are of value to you. If there is any way we can be of service please contact our office. We would consider it a privilege to be of service! Additional agent interview questions and a selection of dozens of free real estate related reports can be viewed on www.RobertRadcliffe.com or simply call our office for a free consultation at 310-255-5454. |
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