13 Questions to Ask A Listing Agent in 2013!

There are quite a few questions you should ask a Listing Agent prior to hiring them to represent the sale of your house.  Some may seem simple, but none the less important to ask.  Here are the 13 questions you need to ask a Listing Agent in 2013:

• Are you a Full-Time Realtor?  Is Real Estate all you do?
• How many homes have you sold in my neighborhood?
• What marketing will you provide for my home?
• Will you order and be present during the Use & Occupancy Inspection?
• Do you charge a Broker's Transaction Fee?
• Will you put colorful, professional brochures (not MLS Sheets) in a Take Me Box by the yard sign?
• How will you receive and provide feedback to me from Realtors who show my house?
• Can I reach you via email, text and cell phone? 
• Will you accept offers on the weekends?  Do you work on the weekends?
• Are you the only Realtor I will be in contact with or do you have a team?
• How many homes did you SELL in 2012?
• How will potential buyers find you?
• How do you handle the restrictions of directional signs in the Boroughs and Townships?

The answers you want to hear:

• You want a Full Time Realtor.  If a Realtor has another job it will "cut" into the time they work for you.

• Be sure that the Realtor knows your neighborhood.  Hiring a friend or family member may seem like a good idea but if they aren't familiar with your neighborhood or they aren't close enough to show the house when a potential buyer wants to view it, it can cause an issue.

• Extensive marketing is very important.  It should not satisfy you, as the Seller, that the MLS will load your home onto other websites.  Where will your home be positioned?  Does the Realtor pay additional fees to be sure their listings come to the top of the list?  Do they change the websites to suit your house or simply let the MLS load them? 

• The Realtor's job should go beyond putting a sign on your front lawn.  Repairs needed?  They should refer and even meet someone at your house.  Is a Use and Occupancy needed?  They should order that for you and be present during the inspection.  A serious Realtor will take care of all the details for you.

• Are there additional fees charged in addition to the commission?  There shouldn't be.

• Make sure the Realtor is truly interested in selling your property.  Colorful, professional brochures placed in a take me box outside of your home is an important part of marketing.  Make sure they are getting every potential buyer excited about your house.

• Feedback is extremely important.  Will the Realtor "chase" the feedback for you and be sure to get it to you in a timely manner?  It's important to know what the buyers feel about your home.

• Perhaps you as the Seller doesn't care about texting, but there is an entire generation of buyers who do.  If your Realtor doesn't text or even have a cell phone that can make it more difficult to identify buyers interested in your home.  They must be tech savvy in order to keep up with all buyers which includes texting, receiving emails on their phone and leads directly to their phone.

• Don't let a Realtor tell you it's best to wait for all showings on the weekends to come through and to accept offers only on Monday.  If you have an interested buyer you want to respond immediately.  We are still not in a Seller's Market and therefore time is critical.  Many Realtors don't work on Sundays, one of the busiest days to show and negotiate agreements.

• Be sure you will be able to speak with the agent directly and that other agents can speak with them.  You are hiring the Realtor you connected with, not their team. 

• It's important to know how many homes the agent sold in 2012 and it's fine to ask them to show the sales to you.  You want an experienced agent in today's Real Estate World.  They more than likely have come against every issue that can be encountered during a sale and will know how to handle them.

• The agent should advertise themselves in order to bring buyers to their listings.  Is the Realtor well known?  They should be.

• There are many restrictions in place by Boroughs and Townships regarding directional signs bringing buyers to your home.  How will your Realtor deal with those restrictions?

Take the time to find the answers to these questions.  It will ensure a smooth transaction for you, the Seller.  Search the MLS for all homes available.