How Do I Find The Best Selling Real Estate Agent To Sell My Home?

The biggest mistake home sellers make when choosing a listing agent is to select an agent based solely on two factors: the highest list price for your home and the lowest commission.

At first glance, the seller might say, "What? Are you nuts?" because the sellers want the highest possible price and pay the lowest commission. However, these two criteria have very little to do with hiring a competent agent and, in many cases, are completely irrelevant.

By Oleg. - https://www.flickr.com/photos/olegshpyrko/15400283837/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101352444

Read on for tips on how to choose a real estate agent that's best suited to you.

Gather the referrals, but take them with a grain of salt

There's a lot of agents out there. So how are you choosing? Go ahead and ask your pals for referrals, but don't fall into the trap of picking an agent just because of rave reviews. The old mantra of location , location, location applies to real estate agents as much as to homes. You want an agent who knows your area very well. If they've spent time in the area, they 're going to know how to market your house there.

Compare online real estate agents

Do a quick online search name for the real estate agents you've identified. Online reviews are the next best thing to do with a personal referral. Read what the people in your area say about the recommended real estate agent. And take note of how the agent responds to negative reviews.

Test their communication skills

Once you have some potential, send them an email or call their office, then sit back and wait. This is your first test of the key component: how responsive is your agent going to be? Ideally, she's supposed to get back to you the same day. "If it takes more than four business hours without a decent explanation, then be careful. Imagine if you have competing offers on the table, or if there's a problem with your home inspection. You don't want to ask yourself where your agent is and whether you're going to hear back from her.

Evaluate their marketing skills

Everyone knows that to sell a house quickly (and get the big bucks) you need to get as many eyeballs as you can. And the way to avoid the agent 's ability to do that is to ask the following questions:

• How are you going to market my home? At least a good brokerage website should be used by the agent to display your listing, national listing portals such as realtor.com ®, and an email subscription list.
• How are you going to use social media? They should use at least Facebook and Twitter for market listings; they'll get bonus points if they post photos to Instagram.
• What offline materials are you using? While most marketing is done online right now, your agent should still use tried-and - tested methods, such as fliers, yard signs, and brochures, especially at the open house.
• How much are you spending on advertising? Advertising costs vary widely across areas, but agents should consistently spend a portion of their business costs on advertising. By asking for a set amount, you'll know whether or not they're doing that.

Probe their experience

Your initial conversation with a prospective listing agent should be like any job interview: don't be afraid to ask some tough questions right off the bat. ,A good agent is supposed to know his stats, and any dancing around these numbers could mean that he's hiding something  the following should be asked:

• How long have you been in business? Aim for agents with at least two years of experience, enough time to learn ropes and fine-tune their marketing and sales plans.
• How many houses did you sell in the last year? Find agents with double-digit sales.
• What percentage of your listings are you selling? Ideally, you want an agent who has sold between 60 and 80 per cent on average.
• What is the average list price to the actual selling price ratio for your listings? This may fluctuate in the market, but you should still be looking for high numbers.

Don’t shoot for cheap

Real estate agents are not equal; they are unique. Each of them has its own marketing techniques and advertising budget. By choosing an agent with a large advertising budget and company dollars to match it, you may gain greater exposure to a larger number of buyers. This is ideal because reaching a larger number of prospective buyers is equal to a better chance of getting a good offer.

Why would an agent work willingly for less than a competitor? There is always a reason why a broker or real estate agent would have discounted a real estate fee. Sometimes it's the only way the agent feels that it's possible to succeed in a highly competitive business, because otherwise the agent can't stand apart from the competition for service, knowledge, or negotiating skills. If the only benefit the agent brings to the table is a cheap fee, ask yourself why. Is the agent desperate or unqualified for business? Consider these issues before you commit to working with an agent.

Sometimes full-service agents negotiate a lower commission under special circumstances such as:

• You buy a home and sell a home at the same time , giving both transactions to one agent.
• You 're willing to do all the legwork, advertisement, marketing, and pay for sales-related expenses.
• You promise to send more business to the agent.
• You 're selling a lot more than one home.
• You don't have enough capital to pay a full commission.
• The agent will accept you as a pro bono case.
• The agent will lose the listing unless he or she matches the fee of the competitor.
• The agent would like the signage (exposure to traffic) to be charged by a full commission.