5 Steps in Choosing a Realtor to sell your property
Over the Christmas holiday, I was inspired to write this post as my parents announced their interest to sell their home in a different state. I found myself doing the 5 steps below to help them find the best listing agent for their needs.
Selling your property in today's market requires much more skill and marketing expertise by the realtor you choose to represent you. Several years ago, it was much easier as all your realtor really needed to do was list the property on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and wait for a deal in a few weeks, or often a few days !
Back then, every realtor looked like an expert no matter their level of expertise. Now it is much more critical to have expert representation to navigate through the maze of getting a house sold. Below is a list of 5 steps that you can use to help you choose the right realtor to sell your property.
1. Current relationships - Consider hiring the realtor who helped you purchase your home or someone you know already.
2. Referral - Ask around your friends, family and colleagues for a referral that specializes in your area.
3. Scout your neighborhood - Notice the for sale signs in regards to the realtors that are selling properties in the area.
4. Google your neighborhood - For example if you lived in Northern Liberties, google Northern Liberties Real Estate or Northern Liberties listings to see what individual realtors come up on page 1 or page 2 of the searches.
Once you do steps 1 - 4, step 5 should really determine who you want to set up an interview with.
5. Google the realtor - search each realtor from your preliminary list from items 1-4 above. For example, google "Chris and Stephanie Somers" and see what comes up. Things to look for are:
A. Does the realtor have their own website ? Or better yet, multiple sites ? A blog ?
B. Can you get more info about the realtor just by reading their site as far as specialties ? For example, there is no need to interview an agent who says they just specialize in buyer agency when you are looking for a listing agent. Also, you will be able to see if the realtor has a team or an assistant which definitely comes in handy throughout the process.
C. Take a look at a listing (or several listings) that a realtor is marketing and google that address and you can see some of the places that a listing is advertised... or more importantly, if there is any adverstising at all ! For example, if you Google 1111 Mount Vernon, this is what comes up: 1111 Mount Vernon - Right away, you can see that it is on trulia, zillow as well as The Somers Team website .
From this, you can pick 2 or 3 realtors to interview with to hear what each individual agent has to say about pricing, getting your house ready for sale as well as their marketing strategy.
This 5-step checklist is a great way to narrow down who you will interview and who you will choose to be your realtor. Also, after doing step 5, you may just want to interview one agent for you will already know based on your due diligence !!!
Make this important decision with confidence !
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The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate
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It's always easier to answer someone's questions if you wrote the questions.
I even offer to give my test to sellers to ask other Realtors; hey, I'm just a nice guy. ;-)
Chris & Stephanie - Excellent article. I have written something similiar before and actually am working on another article right now that touches on a few of these items. Great minds think alike:)
Ah make that 3 of us. We were going to finish an older draft post "Why choose us". Mind if we use a few of these ideas? Keep up the great work.
Plus i'd like to add a shoutout to Oscar and Katje!
Love it!! Good stuff!! Great for the new year also! I love the google your address, incorporating that now! KM
Good post, I also think its important to find someone who you communicate well with. Not everyone will work well together. Make sure its someone you feel comfortable with. Happy New Year!
Good Advice. By the way, congratulations on your article in RE/MAX Times.
Chris, I love that you added "Google your realtor." It's a wonderful way to see someone is established and has a good reputation.
Jim - thanks for the comment ! Makes sense.
Bill - Great minds do think alike !!! Thanks for the compliment : )
Castellum - Absolutely ! Will look foward to your post as well. A shoutout to our cat mascots is always appreciated.
Kristin - Yes, googling an agent or a a listing I think it is great tool for a consumer now and also a great tool for the agent to incorporate in their listing presentation !
Lauren - Totally agree ! I think the agent and the consumer will click very well if they are both comfortable working with each other.
Kay - Thanks for the reminder about the RE/MAX Times online article - just wrote a blog post about it at "Highlighted in RE/MAX Times Online ! "
Carole - Most definitely ! It is a simple yet powerful step to do some due diligence !
Nice recap of things to consider. I helped my out-of-state parents with their house sale last year and this would have been useful. Thanks for posting!
Tim - Yes, thanks for sharing ! It is really interesting when you flip the switch and look at it from the eyes of your parents. And then talking about it - that was the inspiration for this post.
A very concise and well thoughtout process.
Great tips for finding first a particular specialist and then interviewing them for the "chemistry" thing!! Happy New Year Christopher and Stephanie.
Tony and Libby - thanks ! It is a little different when one of us wears the hat of the consumer. Is a skill to look at it that way I believe.
Gary - Yes, chemistry is important. Consumers need to feel comfortable that someone is representing them, and not "selling" them. Is too big of a decision to overpromise and then undeliver in this market.
What wonderful advice and I think that many more are starting to do all that you mentioned, even the buyers in today's market too!