Seller Beware!!

Sellers Beware!!

               5 Things you Need to Know About the Real Estate Agent you Hire

Ask any family member, friend, business associate if they know a Real Estate Agent and I bet they know at least one if not two or more! However, what do they know about the health of that agents business? Do they know about their production, if they have a specialty or how active they are in the real estate community? All agents are not equal. Do you really want to put the sale of what is probably one of your largest investments in the hands of just any agent?

Here are five things you should talk about when interviewing a real estate agent:

1.      Are you a Realtor?  - Not all real estate agents are Realtors. Realtors commit to a strict code of ethics and are provided with continuing education, the opportunity to expand their knowledge through designations and care enough about their business to belong to professional organizations committed to raising the standards of agents.

2.      Do you run your real estate business full time? Real estate transactions can get complicated and there are lots of time sensitive details, a full time Realtor’s first line of business is real estate. That’s not to say expect your agent to be available 24/7 but when you are working on deadlines it’s reasonable to expect your agent will be available and focused on your transaction.

3.      Are you part of a team or a single agent? With all that needs to be done to properly market your home – photos, MLS entry, letting the other realtors know your home is available, letting their database know your home is available, internet marketing, getting the paperwork into their office, etc, etc can they really do it all without the administrative support that a team provides? Not to mention every member of that team wants to sell your home the minute it hits the market they are calling their buyers.

4.      Do you use a showing service to schedule showings? Using a showing service means no missed calls and the showing service verifies the person calling ACTUALLY IS an active agent – they also follow up with every showing for feedback so you know what the prospective buyer thought of your house.

5.      What type of internet marketing do you do for your listings? Are your listings entered for search engine optimization? Do you have premium accounts on all major real estate websites?  Internet advertising is crucial for your home. The National Association of Realtors in a 2014 profile of buyers share that 92% of buyers use the internet for their home search. Make sure your home is one of the first homes found when buyers are searching.