Any smart homeowner will interview a REALTOR® when selling a home. Selling your home will arguably be one of the biggest transactions of your lifetime. When hiring a real estate agent, you want to ensure you have enlisted someone who will present your home in the best light in order to receive the highest and most desirable offer possible. By interviewing a few candidates, you will come to clearly see which real estate professionals you should be wary of and which are a great fit. However, not all real estate agents have plenty of free time to fill out surveys, nor will top agents go out of their way to do hours of research on your behalf until you have shown that you are serious about listing your home for sale. When the time comes to meet, either in person, over the phone or in email, here are a few questions you can ask in your interview, and remember – stick to three or four max. That way you focus on the quality of your questions versus the quantity and can compare the answers you receive.
What Is Your Average List-Price-To-Sales-Price Ratio?
While a lot of information can easily be found online (for example, how long the agent has been in business), some important information is harder to find. It should be noted that this ratio is heavily dependent upon the overall health of the housing market. Before jumping to conclusions about what a percentage may mean, there are a few things to take into consideration. One is how concentrated an agent’s neighbourhood is (if they are trying several neighbourhoods that may reveal that they do not have enough expertise in an area to market it well). Another is that sometimes the market value of a property has no bearing on the asking price which can render that ratio meaningless. Keeping this in mind, an agent’s track record for negotiating sales should aim to always be very close to the listing prices.
What Separates You From Your Competition?
When you interview a realtor when selling a home, this is a question that is generally loved by all. This is a chance for an agent to shine and tell you why they have been successful in their business. It could be that they are available by email as well as by phone. It could be that they maintain a good sense of humour even when things get tough. It could be that they are an excellent negotiator. At the end of the day, make sure their characteristics and qualifications match up with something that will work for you, not just what you hope will be good.
What Would Be Your Marketing Strategy For My Property?
This is an important question to ask for both sellers and buyers. If you are a seller, you want to know exactly what the selling campaign will look like. Will it include an email broadcast? Will there be photography, videos, livestreams, blogs? Will there be online marketing at all?
If you are a buyer, you will want to know what tools and resources your real estate agent will use to find your home. Furthermore, you will want to know how they handle multiple offers, and how often they have come across competing offers when representing a buyer. Experience is always beneficial to have in this department.
How Much Do You Charge?
Some agents advertise in their promotions how much they charge for commission, others prefer to discuss this aspect in person. The price you will be paying in commission fees is an important factor when selecting an agent to represent you. Although it is understood that these fees are negotiable, always remember that you get what you pay for, and this is especially true in the real estate field. Low commission rates usually translate into inferior service, limited resources and less experience.
These are just a few questions that will help you interview a realtor when selling a home. Do you have other burning questions that really helped you in finding the perfect real estate professional? If so, what were they? Leave them in the comments below, I would love to know!
