Want To Sell Your Home? Read This First

Despite real estate selling commission fees still averaging 5%-6%, having a good realtor can really be the difference between getting top dollar for your home and getting “stalefished.”

Just as you must trust your financial advisor with your financial future, trusting your realtor is crucial. If you’re considering buying a home, a top realtor will likely have the inside scoop and give you first dips before others so you can prevent a bidding war.

What To Look For In A Real Estate Agent

Here’s some advice for those looking to choose the right realtor to sell (or buy) a home:

• Go with a Top Producer. Seniority counts a great deal in the real estate game. It’s important to go with a “top producer” because the top 20% of realtors move at least 80% of all the homes in any given area. Top producers are way more connected than your average realtor. They will often know of listings before they hit the market and know of final sales prices before the official close of escrow to allow for better bidding and arbitrage. For sellers, they have a huge network to send out feelers for your property as well.
• Ask when was the last time they sold a home. If your realtor hasn’t sold a home within the past six months, alarm bells should be going off. The realtor should have a consistent flow of homes for sale, ideally in your price range or higher.
• Does s/he have a web presence? If your realtor doesn’t have a hisname.com website in this day and age where 80% of properties are found on-line, then you should be leery. The website should have basic info such as her bio, her previous transactions, thoughts on the market, some pretty graphs, and so forth. The website should also serve as her resume for the list of properties she’d sold or acted as the buyer’s representative.
• Interview your realtor to ascertain intelligence, charisma and professionalism. Realtors often get a bad rap in the media because of sayings such as, “It’s always a good time to buy or sell your home.” There isn’t much of a hurdle to become a realtor and the commission level is frustratingly high. If you don’t find your prospective realtor charming, neither will anybody else. It’s important to see if your realtor can come up with a coherent thesis as to why he thinks XYZ about the direction of the housing market. Your realtor should also present to you a comprehensive game plan for marketing and selling your home.
• Does your realtor have integrity? Do they support being upfront with potential buyers about your property’s less attractive features? Good integrity goes a long way because it minimizes the risk of negative surprises.
• Can you feel the hustle? When you wake up in the morning, will he have already sent you updates because he was working the night before? Will he create a Google Docs spreadsheet to track all the prospective buyers who have come through and shared the file with you? Has he suggested you go with him to see competitive properties on the market to make sure you guys are in the ball park?

Stress Be Gone

Even if you are stuck with a dud of a realtor, know that it is very hard to screw up a sale if you’ve priced your property correctly. Selling a home is extremely stressful, much more so than buying a homein my opinion. An experienced realtor can help make your selling process as smooth as possible. And if you have the guts to list and market one of your most valuable assets yourself, go for it.