Selling your home is often the biggest sale that you'll ever make in your entire life. It is important that you have an agent working in your interests who is doing a whole lot more than just throwing your home on the MLS and kicking back hoping for the best. You want an agent who is pro-actively seeking out buyers for your home on a daily basis, rather than hoping buyers come to them. Here are some questions you should ask your realtor before deciding to hire them for the job of selling, what is most likely the most valuable asset you own, your home.
1) Are you a full-time or part-time agent?
You'd be shocked to know how many agents out there are part-time agents who just rely on referrals from friends and past clients to sustain their business. These agents will come out put on a nice show for you then just throw your home on the MLS and hope that it sells. You want an agent who is looking to earn your business, not just be handed your business. To dig deeper into this, ask your agent what a typical day entails for them. If they're not prospecting for at least 2-3 hours then you're working with a part-time agent most likely.
2) What is the average number of days your homes are on the market before selling?
This will again tell you how active they are in the market. If they have what seems like an abnormally high DOM (days on market), then that should be a tell tale sign that they "bought your listing". Buying a listing will be explained next.
3) What is your average sales price to list price ratio?
This will be able to tell you whether or not your agent "buys listings". Buying a listing is an unethical strategy used by some agents out there where they'll basically tell you that they can get far more money for your home than it is actually worth. By doing this they hope to excite you and in turn list with them. More often than not 6 months down the road you'll have an expired listing on your hands. Remember overpriced listings are only seen by 15% of all buyers on average where as homes priced at market value are seen by 60% of all buyers. You need maximum exposure of your home and overpricing will deter that from happening. Again, you don't want your listing to be one that sits on the market and becomes a "stale listing".
4) How many Seller's and Buyer's are you representing?
There's a few ways to look at this. If your agent is working with a number of buyers then there's a good chance that they'll be able to get your home sold very fast. Having your agent work with a lot of buyers is usually a good thing, however sometimes buyers can be very time consuming and take away from your agent's time to pro-actively market your home. If your agent is working with a lot of sellers then there is a good chance that he/she is a very good agent. If your agent specializes in a particular price range then their prospecting will remain the same and you shouldn't worry that they won't have time for your listing.
5) What is your internet marketing program?
This is very important because in today's market nearly 89% of all home searches start on the internet. You need to ensure that your property has maximum exposure on the internet. For example, I subscribe to a service that has my listings syndicated to over 350 of the top real estate websites.
6) What is your policy on returning calls/texts/e-mails?
The #1 complaint amongst clients of their realtors last year according to studies was the lack of communication. Right from the beginning set guidelines and expectations for your agents regarding when you will communicate (before a showing, weekly review), how you will communicate, and anything else that is important to you about communication. You need to be able to contact your agent when you have something important to bring to their attention and knowing how to do so is very important.
7) Do you offer an "easy exit" listing so that I can end our agreement if I'm not satisfied?
If you are not satisfied with your agent you deserve to be let out of your contract with no liability. In all of my contracts with clients I have an out-clause for them stating that at any time they may cancel the agreement free from liability if they are unsatisfied with my service. On the flip side I also provide them with my daily schedule and have an open door policy stating that at any time they can walk into my office and see exactly what I'm doing. Make sure that your agent offers an easy out and is accountable to you.
Have a great weekend and to all my clients if you'd like to come in and watch me prospect tomorrow, you'll know where my office is located!
-Kyle Kovats, New Jersey Realtor
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