selecting a realtor

[vernacular_life]

oho, and alternatives to PODS http://community.livejournal.com/hip_domestics/5830749.html?nc=7


a realtor on hip domestics answered my query with GREAT detail and loads of help.......


Just a quick comment on a few things first, from a Realtor's POV. Do not hire someone based on commission - if you can find an agent who charges less than most in the same market and will fully market your property, that's great [yes, there are some out there], but a lot of discount agents/brokerages do this by skimping on marketing/advertising costs and/or by offering the buyer's agent a lower commission, both of which can take longer to sell the house, or result in no sale at all. Usually if an agent will cut or negotiate a lower commission for the same service, it is because they are a new or part-time agent desperate for business and/or are in financial trouble. Either way, they may not be the sort of agent you want negotiating the terms of your home sale for you, because they may promise you an unrealistic price to get the listing or not put your best interests first [ie, advise you to settle for a low offer or unfavorable terms in order to get a "closed" sale and a paycheck for themself, rather than to counter or wait for an offer that is better for you].

Less than 1% of houses are sold at open houses. They're a great way for an agent to pick up buyer clients, which is why they are popular with newer agents, but they're not really the best way to sell a home. However, a "broker's open", where they show it to other Realtors in the area, who might have a client looking for that type of home, do have better results than public open houses.

On showing, your agent won't have a lot of control over that, because usually the listing agent will not be the one showing the house most've the time. The shorter notice you can deal with, the better, because it isn't at all uncommon to get a call from someone that wants to look at a home right then, or the same day. In this market, if they have to wait, they will typically just go look at other houses that are more accessible.


1. How long have you been in residential real estate sales? Is it your full-time job?
There are a lot of new & part time agents now. Some are good, but you probably don't want to be a new agents' first sale, or find out that your agent can only work and/or contact you before 9am and after 4pm and on weekends, or something crazy like that.

2. What designations do you hold?
This is all the letters after some Realtors' names. They don't necessarily mean they're better, but they do mean they've taken time to get additional training and have met qualifications to hold those designations [usually a certain number of transactions fitting into the category, as well as education]. They can be pricey, so someone who'd not serious about their career is unlikely to spend time and money to get them.

3. How many homes did you and your real estate brokerage sell last year?
Make sure they tell you how many homes they sold personally, not just how many their company sold, and find out how many of those were in your area. Also, ask them what their firm's % market share is - what percentage of homes sold in your area are sold by their company.

4. How many days did it take you to sell the average home? How did that compare to the overall market?
It should be below the average market. You don't want to leave your home on the market for months, especially if it could put you in the position of having to move and pay two mortgage payments at once.

5. How close to the initial asking prices of the homes you sold were the final sale prices?
This is usually in % of listing prices. Also, specify % of original list price, so they don't give you the percentage after 14 months and 5 price reductions. If they don't have this information, or the DOM [days on market] information from above, find another agent.

6. What types of specific marketing systems and approaches will you use to sell my home? How will this make it stand out from other comparable homes?
Make sure they don't just plan to put up a sign, put it in the MLS, and home it sells. They should use internet marketing as well as flyers at the home and direct advertising [mail or emails] to potential buyers. If your area has a "real Estate Book" or similar free publication, make sure it is advertised in that. A 1-800 number or "talking house" set-up is popular in some areas, but again those are usually more valuable for getting buyer leads for the agent than actual buyers for the home.

7. Will you represent me exclusively, or will you represent both the buyer and the seller in the transaction?
The laws on this vary by state, but it is legal in most states. Make sure you understand how it works, and what your options are if your agent, or another agent in the same company, brings the buyer.

8. Can you recommend service providers who can help me obtain a mortgage, make home repairs, and help with other things I need done?
Most agents should be able to do this. Keep in mind you do still have the option to use any service providers that you want, and make sure you ask if the agent receives any sort of incentive for referring you to a certain provider.

9. Do you have an assistant or support team? What type of support and supervision does your brokerage office provide to you?
A lot of larger agents work as a team or with an assistant. If you're hiring a mega-agent, be aware that you may spend much of your time talking with her assistant or a team member instead. If it's a newer agent, be sure that the office and broker support is adequate to help him handle any problems that may occur.

10. What’s your business philosophy?
This should tell you a lot about the person, and whether or not you'll get along with and be able to work with them.

11. How will you keep me informed about the progress of my transaction? How frequently?
Make sure you know what to expect. I'd recommend at least weekly updates. You'll want to know how many times the house has been shown, any comments from other agents & potential buyers, and what your agent has done to market or promote your home. Be sure you know how to contact your agent outside of office hours if there are problems.

12. Could you please give me the names and phone numbers of your three most recent clients?
Most agents should be able to provide written [or typed] testimonials from past clients, and should be able to provide a way to contact at least some of these. If not, I'd be a little wary.

13. What if I don't think you're doing your job?
Find out what you'll have to do to cancel the listing agreement/contract if you're not satisfied with their service. Some agents provide easy-out, no-obligation cancellations, some ask for written notice and a certain time period to "make things right", and some will not cancel until the listing expires, or will only allow you to swtich to another agent with the same brokerage.

Also, the agent should provide you with 2 things at the listing appointment. One is a CMA or comparative[complete] market analysis, which shows how your home compares to others sold recently, and is the basis for their suggested list price. If the price seems "off", they should be able to show you the comps [nearby homes similar or "comparable" to yours with recent sales] that they used to determine the price. A thorough CMA will show similar homes for sale as well, so you know what your competition is. They should also give you a "net sheet", which will show how much money you will net, after all commissions, taxes, fees, mortgage payoffs, etc have been taken out of the purchase price.

Also, any real estate agent [myself included] will probably be glad to refer you to an agent in your area. Just be careful of these, because we typically get a % of their commission as a "referral fee". While this doesn't affect your out-of-pocket expenses, some agents will refer business to a friend or relative in the business, or to an agent from their company that they may not know much about, just to get the fee. Some service providers [lawyers, mortgage brokers, etc will do the same, in order to get clients referred to them from real estate agents].


Oh yeah, interview more than one agent. You can probably narrow it down to 3-5 pretty easily by looking at their websites or talking to them briefly, and each one will try to get you to sing a listing contract then and there, but take time to be sure it's someone you think will be aggressive at getting your home sold, and that you could stand to put up with for a couple months if it does take a while.

Comments

[spa-girl.livejournal.com]

Great info! I put it in my memories! :)

[tray85.livejournal.com]

I used an agent that would invest heavily in the broker's open house with a fully catered lunch & everything. She paid prime $$$ for front page (home section) ads and all sorts of other marketing. I would definitely lean towards someone who does these types of things.

[mangofandango.livejournal.com]

Hi!

I noticed your default userpic is one I made for [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] in the 50th challenge. (http://community.livejournal.com/starttheclock/230754.html?thread=1157474#t1157474) Would you mind crediting me in the keywords? mangofandango or mango_icons would be fine, whichever you feel like using. :)

Thanks! (And I'm glad you liked the icon!)

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

certainly! I'm usually good w/ crediting (correctly!), so I apologize profusely!!

I must have been smokin' something when I thought the community was your username, but glad you found me and straightened it out. :)

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

yeah, I figure I'd stump many with some of these questions, but I think that if they're going to make $20k or so, they need to do some homework up front.

as for them being present when my home is showing, I've never experienced that, and when we were buying our house we must have seen over 100 houses, none with the seller's agent around. Maybe its a RI thing....

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

we always have lock boxes here, and the buyers rely on the info sheet or info from the buyers realtor who went to a buyers open house or just pulled it off of MLS.

so yeah, phone calls.....which is why I need to make sure that they can answer my above questions!!

[onelargecat.livejournal.com]

Are lawyers required where you are? In Texas, where we are about to buy a house, they're not required, so the seller's agent deals with the paperwork for the seller. They also help you price the house--from what I've seen, figuring out the asking price is important, and requires a lot more knowledge of the market and comparable housing than the homeowner usually has.

[onelargecat.livejournal.com]

The houses we looked at in Texas we didn't have a seller's agent present in most of them. In two of them, there were seller's agents there. Our realtor said he found it really annoying (because, of course, then the buyers can't talk very openly about the house while they're there). He told us that it's common for that to happen with realty companies that try to lure sellers to use them by promising that they are ALWAYS IN THE HOME for showings, without the sellers realizing that it's a negative to buyers to have that agent there.

And in one case, it was SUPER annoying to have this seller's agent there...she wanted to give us a tour and tell us all about all this crap...and we were like, Look, we'll look around and ask questions if we want to know. It wasn't like she was filling us in on useful information. She was saying things like, "You can see that the kitchen has been beautifully upgraded," and "There's lovely landscaping around the pool." BARF.

Also I want to say, if it's uncommon for realtors to be able to answer all those questions, I really think we lucked out with our buyer's agent in Houston. He answered all those questions for us (well, except for "what systems will you use to sell our house..."). I was very impressed with him.