may be surprised to know that many agents sell fewer than 10
homes a year. This volume makes it difficult for them to do full
impact marketing on your home, because they can’t raise the money
it takes to afford the advertising and special programs to give
your home a high profile. Also, at this low level, they probably
can’t afford to hire an assistant, which means that they’re
running around trying to do all the components of the job
themselves, which means service may suffer.

3. What are your marketing plans for my home?
How much money does this agent spend in advertising the homes
s/he lists versus the other agents you are interviewing? In what
media (newspaper, magazine, TV etc.) does this agent advertise?
What does s/he know about the effectiveness of one medium over
the other?

4. What has your company sold in my area?
Agents should bring you a complete listing of both their own, and
other comparable sales in your area.

5. Does your Broker control your advertising or do you?
If your agent is not in control of their own advertising, then
your home will be competing for advertising space not only with
this agent’s other listings, but also with the listings of every
other agent in the brokerage.

6. On average, when your listings sell, how close is the selling
price to the asking price?
This information is available from the Real Estate Board. Is
this agent’s performance higher or lower than the board average?
Their performance on this measurement will help you predict how
high a price you will get for the sale of your home.

7. On average, how long does it take for your listings to sell?
This information is also available from the Real Estate Board.
Does this agent tend to sell faster or slower than the board
average? Their performance on this measurement will help you
predict how long your home will be on the market before it sells.

8. How many Buyers are you currently working with?
Obviously, the more buyers your agent is working with, the better
your chances are of selling your home quickly. It will also
impact price because an agent with many buyers can set up an
auction-like atmosphere where many buyers bid on your home at the
same time. Ask them to describe the system they have for
attracting buyers.

9. Do you have a reference list of clients I could contact?
Ask to see this list, and then proceed to spot check some of the
names.

10. What happens if I’m not happy with the job you are doing to
get my home sold? Can I cancel my listing contract?
Be wary of agents that lock you into a lengthy listing contract
which they can get out of (by ceasing to effectively market your
home) but you can’t. There are usually penalties and broker
protection periods which safeguard the agent’s interests, but not
yours. How confident is your agent in the service s/he will
provide you? Will s/he allow you to cancel your contract without
penalty if you’re not satisfied with the
service provided?


Evaluate each agent’s responses to these 10 questions carefully
and objectively. Who will do the best job for you? These
questions will help you decide.


http://www.trianglehomenews.com


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