How to hire a Realtor
Let's talk about hiring a real estate agent to sell your home. I find it hard to believe that people would simply hire the first person they meet. We are talking about your biggest investment here folks. So with that said, let's look at a few steps you should take when hiring an agent to represent your property.
1. At minimum, invite 3 realtors to come by and look at your home. The agent will put together what we call a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) for your property. Every agent handles this process a little different. Some are flashy with computer screens running, some will come with copious amounts of data and some will bring nothing and try to dazzle you with their words. This is usually when you will begin to relate to a particular style. Non of them are better or worse than the other, you just need to figure out which one works best for you.
2. Ask Questions!!! The usual questions are, how long have you been in the business? How many houses do you usually sell in a typical year? Questions that I think are more important to ask would be. Do you have any referral letters or comments from past clients? What distinguishes you from your competition? Are you a full time agent or is this a side business? Why should I choose you? Again, remember when asking these questions, you are talking to someone who will be handling your biggest asset. Questions are very important.
3. Never hire someone on the spot. Do some research. What type of website do they have? What type of advertising do they do? What expertise do they bring to the table? Every agent is different. A good test to see if an agent is on the ball is to send them an email or call their office requesting a call back and see how long it takes to respond. If an agent is slow to respond to a potential client, just think how slow he/she will be with other agents calling about your home.
4. It should never be about commission. I've had many people call and the only question they ask is what do I charge. Now I understand that money is important and many agents will tackle the commission question with the typical, "would you hire the cheapest heart surgeon?". However, I don't respond all that often with the heart surgeon comeback, because it's pretty obvious that people want the most gifted freakin heart surgeon money can buy when they are lying on the table. I usually respond with a more obvious, yet often overlooked, answer. There are 2 main traits one looks for in a good realtor. The first is great advertising skills and the second is great negotiating skills. Let's focus on the second. If an agent is so willing to cut his/her commission; the very money that will feed their family and pay their bills how can you trust them to negotiate the highest dollar for your home? They can't. Why would they? It's not their money, it's your money. You can't expect someone who doesn't care about their own finances to care about someone else's, it's simple human nature. This is why I say it should never be about commission. Again, ask questions, like, why do you believe you are worth your commission?
5. Finally, make sure they do what they say they are gonna do. Within a listing contract we have a form called the "Schedule A", which basically is a form written by the agent saying what he/she will do to sell your home. Some items you will find on there are: exposure on REALTOR.ca, exposure on personal website(s), quality of photos taken, video tours etc. So if an agent says they will be doing a video tour but hasn't...make sure they do. Check the photos posted on REALTOR.ca, are they quality? should they be re-taken? Do they look like the one's I display in MLS pics gone WRONG? Cause if they do...that's not good :) If you haven't seen that page of my website I'll post the link to it below so you can have a good laugh.
So that's it folks, I hope this helps when you decide to sell your home. Allow us to compete for your business, it keeps us sharp, makes us better and you get better service in the long run.
MLS pics Gone Wrong link http://www.kylehislop.com/MLSpicsGoneWrong.php
Kyle Hislop
RE/MAX