Choosing A Real Estate Listing Agent

By Matt Unangst, 23 Jan 00:39

• Ask specific questions
• Look around your area – the agents who seem to be selling the most homes probably are
• But be careful – make sure you aren’t going to get delegated to someone else
• Go to open houses to meet agents
• Check websites of local real estate companies
• Get recommendations from other people
• Interview at least 3 agents before choosing one
• Be wary of an agent who tells you a price out of line with other estimates
• Be wary of agents listing your home below market price to increase their own sales
• Choose an agent you feel completely comfortable with

Choosing the right real estate listing agent is a decision that can be worth thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, finding the best agent is not an easy process. It can be improved, however, by doing a few simple things.

The most important step in choosing an agent is interviewing agents. Many agents do not like being interviewed because an interview can expose the flaws in their approaches to selling real estate. But this is exactly why an interview is so invaluable to the client – it allows the client to get a feel for the agent and decide which agent would work best for him/her.

Before interviewing any agents, you should first weed out the field. The best way to begin is to just take a drive or a walk around your neighborhood and look for For Sale signs. A company that has a lot of well-maintained For Sale signs around is probably doing a good job of marketing properties. Also keep an eye out for fliers or other marketing materials with the For Sale signs, as well as dates on the signs. If the signs have all recently been posted, the company probably sells quickly.

The agent with the most signs may not be the best choice, however. A number of high-volume “superstar” agents pawn off much of their workload to young assistants after the original meeting with a seller. An agent who is selling a huge number of homes does not have the time to personally take care of each sale, so he/she will concentrate on the highest value homes and have assistants work on the others.

To protect yourself from such a fate, make sure that the agent you choose has a proven history of personally taking care of every listing and does not delegate matters to a junior agent.

There are a number of ways you can get in contact with an agent and get a feel for his/her personal style in selling homes:

Go to open houses. Agents hold open houses primarily to market themselves to other potential customers. You will get a chance to talk with an agent in a casual atmosphere and see how the agent goes about his/her business. It is also informative to see just who is hosting the open house – is it the agent on the listing or a junior agent?

Look at the websites of real estate companies in you’re area. A well designed website is not only an asset in selling a home, but also gives you an idea of the company’s priorities. If the website has lots of information on homes that the company is currently selling, with photos, virtual tours, and informative home descriptions, the company is probably a better bet than one with a website that is mostly concerned with getting information from you.

Ask around for information on agents. The best sources of such information are often other people involved in real estate in some way, such as appraisers and home inspectors. But beware, for these professionals will sometimes just recommend agents who recommend them to their own customers.

There is no such conflict if you ask for recommendations from friends, relatives, and co-workers. Ask them if they would choose the same agent if they had it all to do over again. Real estate agents get very little return business, so if one comes recommended, he or she is probably a good bet. So much can go wrong during a real estate transaction and the agent is the easiest scapegoat for any problems, so an agent who is still liked by a customer is rare, and probably good.

It is probably not good advice to choose an agent who you are friends with. Having a relationship with someone outside of a business arrangement (which selling a home is) can make things difficult.

Once you have narrowed your search to just a few agents, you can begin interviewing some. It is recommended that you interview at least three so that you can get a good feel for the difference between them. Since there are so many questions that you can ask, you should do some thinking beforehand to figure out exactly what you want to ask.

An agent who suggest you list your home at a price far higher than that suggested by the other agents you interview is one to be wary of. There is a chance that the agent who made the suggestion is a tremendous salesperson, but it is far more likely that he/she either doesn’t know the market or is just trying to lure you into signing, knowing that the commission will still be paid even if you have to drop the price of your home significantly from its listing.

Another thing to be wary of is a superstar agent who prices homes below market value. These agents are concerned with continuing their record of success in selling homes and will not do anything to jeopardize this success, such as getting the best price for your home. Ask for a CMA (comparative market analysis) from an agent. You can then ask the agent to list your home at the higher end of the price scale for the homes on the CMA.

The best agents will list a home at its market price. This will maximize your profit without scaring off buyers. You should be suspicious of an agent who has often sold home below listing price in the past and figure out why he/she has done so.

Home sales are mostly a product of price and time. If your priority is to get the best price for your home, even if it winds up taking a bit longer, be sure choose an agent who is willing to make this his/her priority as well.

Every agent has strengths and weaknesses. Experienced agents have more recognition among buyers and a good idea of how to market a property. New agents usually do not have all the answers, but normally have a more experienced agent to mentor them and assist with the process. Newer agents are often more motivated to sell than experienced agents because they are hoping to create a reputation for themselves in the industry.

Choosing a real estate agent can be an intimidating and difficult process. Even if you have sold a home before, it isn’t easy. But remember that the agent you choose has a big effect on the pleasantness and profitability of your sale. Choose an agent that you feel comfortable with and that knows your area well.

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Tags: listing agent real estate agent broker