Your real estate agent is the secret to a smooth real estate experience. Hiring an experienced agent with local knowledge and an excellent communicator will help you find a home and confidently extend an offer. If you’re ready to find success in your next real estate experience, it begins with hiring the best agent. Read on for ways to ensure you choose the best agent to help with your real estate experience.
Learn About Their Professional Experience and Credentials
When you’re interviewing real estate agents to sell your home, you must be comfortable with their professional background. It’s helpful to ask about how many homes they’ve sold, the price range of these homes, if the homes sold for the offer price or above, and how many clients they’ve worked with. Even if they have extensive experience, it’s also essential to ensure they’re experienced in the market in which you’re looking. Reviewing an agent’s current listings and their closed transactions can help you evaluate if they specialize in the type of home you’re looking for.
Inquire About Their Pricing Strategy
Whether you’re buying or selling, home prices are top of mind. When you’re interviewing agents, it’s essential to understand what the broker’s commission will be, the closing fees and any other costs involved. When you’re selling a home, be sure to learn about your agent’s pricing strategy and how they assess the area comps. Pricing the house too high means it will sit on the market for too long, while pricing it too low means you won’t receive what the home is worth. Your agent should be able to clearly articulate how they arrived at the offer price and present the data that backs it up.
Find Out Their Breadth of Local Knowledge
A hyper-local real estate agent will be familiar with the prices of nearby homes, available inventory, local amenities and neighborhood plans. They may also have insight into pocket listings, the private network and have strong relationships with other local agents.
Be comfortable with their communication style
When you decide to work with a particular real estate agent, being on the same page with communication styles is helpful. There may be a better fit if they prefer phone calls and you are only available to email. Or, if all communication is vetted through their assistant, it may be a frustrating experience. Understanding an agent’s accessibility may encourage or deter you from working with them.
Inquire About Their Marketing Strategy
When selling your home, you want to be confident it’s being expertly marketed to the right audience. A thoughtful, creative and detailed marketing plan is the key to a successful home sale, and you should be able to see this plan will be executed before signing with an agent. It should include:
- A professional stager and photographer
- Digital marketing that consists of a website
- Video and social media content
- Print collateral
- In-person events such as broker open houses and public open houses
- Additional initiatives that are appropriate to your local market and home type
Buying and selling a home is a tremendous financial and lifestyle undertaking, so carefully assessing real estate agents to ensure they align with your real estate goals will help create a positive experience.
