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How to Know If a Real Estate Agent is the Right Pick to Sell Your Home

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How to Know If a Real Estate Agent is the Right Pick to Sell Your Home

 

90% of Americans use real estate agents when buying or selling homes. Selling your home is a huge decision that brings about many emotions. You are parting with perhaps the biggest investment you have ever made to this point. 

Enlisting the help of a real estate agent can help make the process of selling your home a smooth one. The real estate market can be a competitive one, and you need a seasoned agent to help you make the right decisions. The right realtor can help sell your home quicker and for a better price. 

In today’s post, we are going to outline several specific things a real estate agent can do for you. We will also give you a few guidelines on how to find a real estate agent you can rely on when selling your home. We will tell you which questions you should ask your potential realtor when making a decision about whether to hire them or not.

Keep reading to learn more.

What Can a Real Estate Agent Do for You?

Before you begin interviewing potential agents, you need to have a clear sense of what you wish to get out of the home selling process. With such a large amount of money on the table, you need to have clear goals so you can hire an agent who helps you meet them.

Here is what to expect from a listing agent.

They’ll Help in Pricing Your Home

For most homeowners, the big question is how to set the price for their home. The simple answer is to trust your real estate agent to recommend the right listing price. Seasoned realtors know how to set prices that attract the right clients and give you the highest possible returns from the sale.

But how can you know that your agent, who is relatively a stranger to you, is choosing the best price for your property? 

Understand What Your Property Is Generally Worth

Take the time to do some research on the average prices of local properties in the area. Run this information by your prospective realtor for a more informed perspective.

Get Pricing Information on Houses Your Realtor Has Sold Recently

In particular, ask the real estate agent what the differences were between the prices that homes were listed for and the ultimate selling prices for the homes. 

Your biggest interest here should be accuracy. Any agent can mention a high price because he or she knows it is what most sellers want to hear. But are you willing to let your home languish on the market or keep reducing the price until you get a seller?

Realtors Help in Marketing Your House

62% of agents spend at least one hour every day on marketing the properties they have listed. Most of them apply a combination of time-tested marketing techniques and more modern methods to market your home. 

Traditional marketing approaches that bear good results include open houses, signage, and direct mail. Modern methods include using social media and setting up a solid mobile marketing strategy to get more potential buyers to see your home. 

Using a company like Hommati means that your agent has access to resources that will help sell your home faster and for top dollar, which includes a plethora of marketing techniques.

Agents Negotiate With Buyers on Your Behalf

Provided you have done everything right, offers should start pouring in within no time. When that happens, it is time for one of the most critical steps of the home selling process: negotiating with serious buyers. 

As anyone who has ever sold a home will tell you, the negotiating process can have many stressful moments. It is best to let a seasoned agent step in for you.

A top realtor possesses impressive negotiation skills and can help guide this step of the selling process to a fruitful completion. 

They Help Close the Sale 

Once the negotiations are over and you have signed the purchase agreement with your home’s buyer, it is time to focus on closing the sale. Your real estate agent can help you to navigate the remaining steps smoothly.

These steps include reaching an agreement regarding post home inspection repair requests and handling any little surprises that spring up at the last minute. 

Tips for Finding a Good Real Estate Agent

Now that you know what a top real estate agent brings to the table when you want to sell your home, it is time to talk about how you can find such an agent.

This is a process you need to do patiently. Set aside a few weeks to research potential agents in your area so you can hire the best fit. 

Below, we discuss a few essential things you can do to help you locate suitable realtors you can work with.

Ask for Referrals

An excellent place to start when seeking a good real estate agent is your network. Friends, relatives, colleagues, and neighbors may be able to recommend good realtors they have worked with in the past. 

Consider asking other professionals in the real estate industry for recommendations too. A reputable realtor will be happy to recommend you to a good agent if the service you are looking for is not their specialty.

For instance, a realtor who only specializes in investment or commercial property will be happy to recommend a top real estate agent who deals with residential properties if you are looking to sell a home. 

These word-of-mouth endorsements are priceless when you are looking for the ideal agent for you.

Search Online for Agents

If you cannot get referrals or recommendations for real estate agents in your area, consider going online for potential options. There are plenty of trustworthy websites that can refer you to the most reliable realtors in your area. 

Look up the profiles of individual real estate agents to get a good idea of their experience and other qualities. Read client reviews, so you know what to expect from them. If the real estate agent has stellar reviews from most of their previous clients, it is a good sign.

Visit Open Houses

Attending open houses can help you meet and interact with agents in a working environment that is non-threatening. You get the opportunity to collect business cards from agents you are drawn to working with.

Take note of how the real estate agent shows you a particular home and determine whether you would be comfortable letting him or her show clients your listed home. Does the agent come across as warm, polite, knowledgeable, and informative? Does the promotional material the agent hands out seem professional?

With Covid-19 still causing stay-at-home-orders and social distancing, it may be hard to find homes that are going open houses, but it is always good to keep this in mind for when open houses will be safe to go to once the virus is under control.

Read Print Advertisements

Generally, agents run advertisements to sell particular real estate or promote their business. Your local paper should have house ads advertised by realtors in your area. 

Take note of these agents and visit their websites to learn more about their services. From what you see on their websites, determine whether you may be interested in working with them.

Questions to Ask When Interviewing Real Estate Agents

Once you have made a list of potential real estate agents to work with, it is time to interview a few of them to make your final decision. During the interview, you will want to ask the right questions so you can learn as much as possible about each realtor before deciding who to hire.

Here are five top questions to ask.

How Long Have You Been an Agent?

The average US realtor has eight years of experience in the field. You want to hire someone with a similar amount of experience or more. 

Remember, you are entrusting this person to sell your biggest asset, so it is crucial that he or she knows the business and has enough experience to do everything right. 

Who Is on Your Team?

Does the real estate agent work solo, or does he or she have a team? Many top agents are part of a larger team. If that is the case with the agent you are interviewing, inquire who exactly will be part of the team.

The idea is to know from the start who you can expect to work with at some point during the selling process and what their role is.

Can You Provide Testimonials from Previous Customers?

The best real estate agents will have no problem giving you a list of satisfied customers who he or she has worked with in the past. Call three or four of these customers to verify whether what your prospective agent says is true.

How Long Does It Typically Take You to Sell Homes?

You want to sell your home at the best possible price, but you do not want to take forever to do so. Top real estate agents move properties fast because they are adept at setting prices right, developing a winning real estate marketing strategy, and negotiating effectively. This is the type of agent you want to work with.

Check the real estate agent’s success record. Find out the average number of days tit takes for him or her to sell properties. If the homes he or she sells take a longer time on the market, then you should find out why that is. 

Find the Right Real Estate Agent To Sell Your Home

When you are looking to sell your home, hiring the right real estate agent can make all the difference. To sort the wheat from the chaff, understand what you need from the real estate agent and ask him or her the right questions during your initial interview with them.

Are you looking for help selling your home? Please contact us today.