- Joined
- Dec 10, 2007
- Messages
- 265
Realtors have a bad reputation these days. And as a Realtor, I know why. Most Realtors don`t want to work hard. They`d much rather say "lets cut the price $10,000" instead of "I`ll work harder marketing your home". Sometimes successful Realtors who have been around a long time are the worst culprits. The question is then, how do you find a good Realtor? The answer is to ask the right questions. I`ve prepared a few questions you can use to find the best Realtor for you.
1. How does our home compare to others in the area? – It is vital to have a competively priced home. A good Realtor will have a sense of where your home stands in the current market. If a Realtor is not prepared when trying to sell you on their services, when are they going to be?
2. What is your plan to ensure we buy the right home? – the answer better not be "I`ll take you to homes you want to see". Whether you`re buying for personal use or as an investment, your Realtor must have a good understanding of your long term plans. A good Realtor should have a process in place to get the information from you and into their head. This will save everyone time and headaches.
[/size]
3. What is your marketing plan for my home? – Realtors need to get as many people through a home as possible. Typically, buyers look at 8 homes before they buy. How is that Realtor going to ensure yours is one of them? Hopefully your Realtor has a printed off marketing plan that outlines the action steps to get your home sold. This has the added bonus of spelling out expectations and keeping everyone accountable.
4. How will we know what the right price to offer is? As a Realtor, I was told to answer this question by saying "I can`t decide what the right price is. All I can tell you is the closer you come to their asking price, the more likely they are to accept it".
imes New Roman-->Baloney. Your Realtor should sit down with you, and show you ALL the comparables over the last 3-6 months.
5. How do we know if we should drop the listing price? – Bad Realtors will give you an answer in terms of time. Really, it all has to do with the number of qualified buyers that see your home. If 10 qualified buyers see your home and you don`t get an offer, its time to lower the price.
6. Do you work for reduced commission? Good Realtors won`t reduce their commission, they don`t have to. But if you`re selling a 400,000 home and buying a 1,000,000 home, a good Realtor may be willing to discuss a compromise.
7. How will we be kept abreast of the happenings of the market? - Whether you`re buying or selling, it is vital you stay on top of what is occurring in the market place. If prices drop 4% in one month (as they did in December 08), you need to know this.
A good realtor will give you weekly updates, and discuss with you the day a new listing comes on the market in your area of interest. As a suggestion, Monday is the slowest day for a Realtor. So tell your Realtor you`d like a phone call or email every Monday.
4. The last time you lost a client, why did that happen? – every Realtor has this happen to them. Often, it may not be the Realtor`s fault.
However, a Realtor must be willing to take at least some of the blame for the failure to sell the home or find the right house for a potential buyer. Listen for an explanation of why it happened, and what they learned. If a Realtor won`t accept some of the blame, they don`t understand the team process that is involved with Real Estate.
This is not meant to be a complete list of questions, but just something outside the box to get you thinking. If anyone else has some good questions, please post them.
1. How does our home compare to others in the area? – It is vital to have a competively priced home. A good Realtor will have a sense of where your home stands in the current market. If a Realtor is not prepared when trying to sell you on their services, when are they going to be?
2. What is your plan to ensure we buy the right home? – the answer better not be "I`ll take you to homes you want to see". Whether you`re buying for personal use or as an investment, your Realtor must have a good understanding of your long term plans. A good Realtor should have a process in place to get the information from you and into their head. This will save everyone time and headaches.
[/size]
3. What is your marketing plan for my home? – Realtors need to get as many people through a home as possible. Typically, buyers look at 8 homes before they buy. How is that Realtor going to ensure yours is one of them? Hopefully your Realtor has a printed off marketing plan that outlines the action steps to get your home sold. This has the added bonus of spelling out expectations and keeping everyone accountable.
4. How will we know what the right price to offer is? As a Realtor, I was told to answer this question by saying "I can`t decide what the right price is. All I can tell you is the closer you come to their asking price, the more likely they are to accept it".
imes New Roman-->Baloney. Your Realtor should sit down with you, and show you ALL the comparables over the last 3-6 months.
5. How do we know if we should drop the listing price? – Bad Realtors will give you an answer in terms of time. Really, it all has to do with the number of qualified buyers that see your home. If 10 qualified buyers see your home and you don`t get an offer, its time to lower the price.
6. Do you work for reduced commission? Good Realtors won`t reduce their commission, they don`t have to. But if you`re selling a 400,000 home and buying a 1,000,000 home, a good Realtor may be willing to discuss a compromise.
7. How will we be kept abreast of the happenings of the market? - Whether you`re buying or selling, it is vital you stay on top of what is occurring in the market place. If prices drop 4% in one month (as they did in December 08), you need to know this.
A good realtor will give you weekly updates, and discuss with you the day a new listing comes on the market in your area of interest. As a suggestion, Monday is the slowest day for a Realtor. So tell your Realtor you`d like a phone call or email every Monday.
4. The last time you lost a client, why did that happen? – every Realtor has this happen to them. Often, it may not be the Realtor`s fault.
However, a Realtor must be willing to take at least some of the blame for the failure to sell the home or find the right house for a potential buyer. Listen for an explanation of why it happened, and what they learned. If a Realtor won`t accept some of the blame, they don`t understand the team process that is involved with Real Estate.
This is not meant to be a complete list of questions, but just something outside the box to get you thinking. If anyone else has some good questions, please post them.