Skip to main content

Seven Questions to Ask Before You Choose an Agent



The concern today when putting your home on the market should not be whether you'll get a contract; it's whether you are going to recognize the majority your net proceeds without any unnecessary delays.

What you realize from the sale of your home has to do with maximizing the sales price while minimizing the sales expenses.  Interestingly, the buyers will be trying to minimize the price they have to pay for your home and possibly, have you pay some of their expenses.

Taking a few pictures with a cell phone and putting a sign in the yard may be enough to get a buyer but successfully selling a home in today's market requires expert marketing and expert negotiations. 

Marketing begins with the preparation of the property to optimize the first impressions it makes to potential buyers.  A skilled professional can make recommendations that can help the home sell for the most money and in the shortest amount of time.  Cleaning, painting, depersonalizing, removing unnecessary items and possibly staging are a few of the recommendations you might receive.

93% of buyers rely on the Internet to search for properties and information and is something they engage even before they find an agent.  Positioning the home so it only can be found effectively in the search is making it appeal favorably and requires careful consideration.

Professional-level photography will make the property look appealing.  Experience knowing the right angles, the proper lighting, and having the right lens are only a few of the things can make a property stand out from the competition.

Negotiations plays a huge part in the sale of any home.  There will be negotiations during the offer/contract stage with the buyer and the other agent.  After that, there may be negotiations regarding inspections, repairs, the appraisal, or anything that might threaten the ultimate closing.

The following are seven questions that you can ask when interviewing an agent to market your home.  The answers should help you evaluate and select an agent who can represent you and your interests.

  1. Do you use a professional photographer?
  2. Have you sold homes in this area recently?
  3. Explain your timetable for preparation, "going live" and market exposure.
  4. Describe your efforts during the negotiation process.
  5. Do you have a pricing analysis, showing actives and solds, for my neighborhood?
  6. Which properties will be our strongest competition?
  7. How do you get the most exposure to get competing offers?

On the surface, it may appear that all agents are the same.  They are all be licensed to sell real estate and can put your home in the MLS for other agents to find.  Experience and skill sets can vary widely among agents and the questions provided in this article can help you determine who can do the best job for you in today's environment and the market your home is located.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cash-Out Refinance

With the rapid appreciation that homes have had in the last two years, most homeowners have equity.   A common way to release part of the equity is to cash-out refinance but some homeowners may not be eligible currently. This type of loan replaces the current mortgage by paying it off and an additional amount of cash for the owner.   Generally, lenders will consider a new mortgage up to a total of 80% of the current value. Typically, the rate on a cash-out refinance will be slightly higher than a traditional purchase money mortgage.   As is in any lending situation, the rate depends on the borrower's credit and income.   The best interest rates are available to borrowers with higher credit scores, usually over 740. Loan-to-value can affect the rate a borrower pays also.   A 70% loan-to-value mortgage could be expected to have a lower interest rate than an 80% LTV because there is a larger amount of equity remaining in the property and therefore, less risk ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Make Your Home Offer the Most Appealing

Sales in February 2023 were up 14.5% month over month and still down 22.6% year over year according to the NAR Housing Snapshot.   The median sales price dipped 0.2% to $363,000 and there are 2.6 months supply of homes on the market compared to 1.7 months a year ago. "Inventory levels are still at historic lows, and consequently, multiple offers are returning on a good number of properties." According to Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of REALTORS�. It is still important to have a strategy for potentially competing with other buyers on the house you want to buy.   The plan should include several available provisions and options, so that at the time of drafting the sales offer, you can consider exactly what to include based on the situation. Unless a person is paying cash, you need to be pre-approved by a trusted mortgage professional long before you start looking at homes.   Include the written pre-approval letter along ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Not Available for All Buyers

Lenders regularly publish mortgage rates but they may not be available for all buyers. Imagine that the mortgage payment based on an advertised rate influenced a buyer to make an offer on a home. After negotiating a binding contract, this buyer makes a loan application and finds out that for any number of possible reasons, that rate isn’t available. Even if the person does financially qualify for a loan at a higher interest rate, it will not be the payment that the buyer expected when the contract was negotiated. Lenders evaluate several factors such as the borrower’s credit score, debt-to-income and loan-to-value ratios. These variables are used to assess the risk associated with the repayment of the loan. While mortgage money is a commodity, it isn’t priced the same way items are that involve cash for goods. The lender puts up the money today based on a promise from the borrower to repay over a long term, possibly up to thirty years. The simple solution ...
Post a Comment
Read more