Hiring A Real Estate Agent

Hiring a real estate agent to help you sell your home is a smart decision, but there are many pitfalls to avoid in order to ensure you are hiring the best qualified professional for you. By understanding what an agent does for their client, why they do it, and what their systems are, it is possible to not only successfully sell your home, but have a pleasant experience as well.

In essence, real estate agents work for themselves, developing their own way of marketing and selling homes, so every real estate agent is different. These differences may be slight, or they may vary greatly, but the only way to discover what services each one provides is to interview the agent. Interview at least three real estate agents at your home, well before you must put the home on the market if possible. The interviews should focus on several aspects that you may not be aware of yet. Let’s take a look at what a proper real estate agent interview should involve:

The Interview

It is important to understand that the interview process is not to find out which agent claims to be able to get the most money for your home. In fact, pricing should not even be discussed at the initial interview. The object of the interview is to discover what services each agent provides, learn what type of marketing plan they have in place, how that marketing plan applies to your situation, and what systems are in place to manage the paperwork generated by a pending contract.

However, as important as these details are, it is just as important to learn whether or not you are comfortable communicating with the agent. Many sellers make the mistake of simply hiring an agent who promises to sell the house for the most money, even when they do not feel comfortable with the agent. A real estate transaction can be extremely strenuous and emotional; that is why open, clear, comfortable lines of communication are critical to a successful sale.

Questions to ask each agent should be written out and utilized during each interview. Asking the same questions of each agent will provide you with a standard way to compare them after the interview process is completed. Below are some of the most critical questions to ask a potential real estate agent:

• How many active clients do you generally assist at any given time?
• What is your marketing plan?
• Describe how my home will be presented on the Internet (over 80% of buyers seek homes there!).
• How do you manage a contract? With all of the paperwork, the numerous service providers involved, and the buyer’s side of the transaction, it must be difficult. How do you keep everything straight?
• Are you a full time real estate agent?
• Do you have any vacations planned? If yes, how will you manage my business during your absence? How will you be able to handle an offer or showing?

Be sure to take plenty of notes during the interviews. Once the interviews are over, go over your notes thoroughly. It is a good idea to schedule a second interview with the real estate agent you’ve chosen, this time requesting that the agent provide you with statistical information and recommended pricing on your home. You may even want to have each agent provide this information in a second interview as well, just to be sure of your final decision. Although this adds to your time-line, it is critical to make the best possible choice in an agent in order to avoid the all-too-familiar pitfalls.