How to select a listing agent to sell your home

How to select a listing agent to sell your home

By Emilio DiSpirito, Realtor (Questions? emiliodiv@gmail.com)

When selling your home, if you do not have a direct referral from a friend or family who has used a specific Realtor, what do you do to find the best-qualified agent to sell your home?

In this blog we will uncover the best tips to find, interview and select the right agent to assist you in getting the highest sales price in the least amount of time! Please feel free to leave any comments that you feel can help our readers!

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Finding & Scheduling Realtors to Interview

Tip #1 Interview 3 agents!

Tip #2 Where to find agents?

• Do you continually see the same team/agent on signs in your area? Start there!
• Google "Realtor Reviews "Rhode Island" (or your states name spelled out!)
• Skip over the ads as they will lead you to sites that randomly connect you with agents.
• Skim through reviews to make sure they are from actual clients and not colleagues, friends, and family. Make sure agent has many reviews. 

Tip # 3 Contact the 3 agents you have selected via phone call. If they do not pick up, leave a message. 

• This will show you how responsive the agent is! Keep in mind you want a Realtor who sells a lot of homes and they may be with clients. Give them half a day on initial contact before giving up on them! 

Tip # 4 Pick one or two days and scatter your interviews. Give each agent at least 2.5 hours to walk through the home with you and to go over market numbers and strategy. 

What to look for and ask real estate agent during the interview 

Tip # 5 Be observant! Look for signs that this agent has your best interest!

• Does agent listen during the walk through of the home or are they doing all the talking?
• Is agent making comments about the home? Asking questions about why you chose the home?
• If so, this agent is connecting the dots to understand why you purchased the property so he/she knows how to sell it to buyers. 
• If not, do not disqualify agent, as they may have a different process. Ask them if that new heating system or new roof will add value to the home. See if they stutter or if they answer it directly. Stutter may indicate that the agent has low experience. 

Tip # 6 Don't be shy! This is a business transaction and you have 1 goal! To get the home sold at the highest price within a reasonable time period!

• Ask the agent where they rank in the state or county. If they can't answer, have them run numbers and send you a report. If they do not know how.. You may want to think before using a Realtor that does not know how to use the MLS (Multi Listings Service - software Realtors use to advertise your home to the world). 
• Ranking report should look something like Exhibit A
• Ask if the agent is FULL TIME!! A part time agent will not be able to field all the calls, invest the proper money or time in the marketing. The service, support, and experience will indeed be sub par compared to a seasoned full-time Realtor.
• Ask if the Realtor is part of a team or a solo agent.
• With nearly 200 steps in the transaction, you want someone who has the support staff that can handle all the moving parts!

EXHIBIT A : THIS IS THE TOP 10 TEAMS/AGENTS FOR SINGLE FAMILY HOMES UNITS SOLD IN RHODE ISLAND FOR 2017. #3 IS NOT AN AGENT BUT A GROUP OF RANDOM AGENTS THAT DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO MLS. THEY ARE DISQUALIFIED AND EACH AGENT BELOW IS MOVED UP SPACE. THE AGENT YOU ARE INTERVIEWING SHOULD BE ABLE TO SHOW YOU WHERE THEY RANK!

Tip# 7 Marketing - Ask agent for a list of exactly what they will do for marketing. Ask if there are any upfront charges to retain their services. 

Tip # 8 Pricing - It's simple. Every home has a fair market value. Going with the agent "with the best price" and without any data supporting that price is the most ignorant thing you can do for yourself and your wallet. Homes that are overpriced get much less traffic and sell for less. "What about wiggle room for negotiations?" - Well.. would you rather have 17 buyers see your home or 2? Which one do you think will allow your home to sell for a higher price? It's a fact that homes listed at or slightly above/below (depending on area and local market conditions) of fair market value, will indeed sell at or above list price in the first 2 weeks on market on national average. 

For more information, please feel free to leave a comment below or email me direct emiliodiv@gmail.com!! Thanks!