Welcome to The Real Estate Dish offical blog. To find out more about me, David Violi, please click on over to my "About" page www.vteamre.com/About . I am here for you, the reader. To provide an insight to different aspects of real estate and even some details of the some of the hottest celebrity deals. I, always, love to hear from you, so please leave comments, questions or topics you would like me to address.
Today I'm going to tackle the question of how to pick a real estate agent. Or as I like to say, "How to Interview a Realtor" after all we DO work for you. To often people are cofused, overwhelmed or just not eductated enough on this extremely important step. So, what do they do? They wind up listing their home with their sister's best friends uncle just, well, because he's there. What are you suppose to do then? Where do you even start?
We know an agent should be honest, trustworthy, and knowledgable. I say trust your gut here. Look someone can be recommended to you by 100 people who say their great, but if you are not comfortable in your gut find someone else. That said, referrals from people you know are always a great place to start to get some good canidates. I always recommend that you look up any agent on your state's Department of Real Estate website in order to make sure they are in good standing with them (In California it is www.dre.ca.gov ).
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Let's say you looked and asked around and found a handful of agents you are considering for selling your home. What now? Time to interview them. Set times over a few days to meet them all. I would suggests a minimum of 1 hour per agent. Now let's be careful. Agents are well trained for these situation. We know how to control the flow, how, what and when to say things. Listen intentley, but be prepared to ask them question. Many agents will sound convincing (at least intially).
There is a way to find the agent who will likely succeed in getting you top dollar for your home. The key is to ask the right questions. The following list provides important knowledge to help you choose the right agent in today’s tough market and save you hours in the process. These are outside the box questions that you NEED to know the answers to.
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Do you know what High Dynamic Range Imaging is?
If they respond with something related to “High Definition” photography, you know they don’t know the answer. Anybody can shoot “High Definition”, even with a cell phone. Call us and we will explain why this is so important in marketing your home and why you should move on to an agent that understands this.
What is your Financial Guarantee of Your Performance?
If they can't put their money where their mouth is, but claim they are "a top producer” or “number one in the office in the third week in May, etc.”, you should think twice.
Do you have Hyper Local Strategy to give my listing significant local exposure?
Most agents are not community advocates.
Do you have a Global strategy?
How many countries? How many languages?
Do they build Custom High Impact Flash Websites for every listing?
Buyers irst see homes on the net, so having a web presence for your listing is crucial. Some agentsdon't build sites at all, and most who do, use cookie-cutter templates that their broker offices provide for them. These are usually less than impresive, which means a low offer or no offer at all. Ask the agent for a recent example of their listings that you can view online. The virtual experience is worth a thousand words.
If your agent candidates crash and burn on this Q&A, feel free to call me. Maybe I can help.
By: David Violi