How To Hire a Real Estate Agent As a Seller | The Katherine Barnett Team

12.7.20 | For Sellers

How To Hire a Real Estate Agent As a Seller

Are you preparing to sell your home? The first thing you’ll want to do is find the right agent. Having a skilled professional by your side will help ensure that every step—from pricing to staging to negotiations—leads to the best possible result. It all starts with a practical approach to your search.

If you’re selling your home, here are a few tips for finding the ideal real estate professional for your needs…

Conducting Interviews

After some googling—and perhaps asking around amongst friends and family—you should have a shortlist of agents who seem like a good fit. Once you do, it’s time to start setting up interviews. There’s no better way to find out who you could work well with than by sitting down to chat one-on-one. Here are just a few questions to consider asking:

• How long have you worked in my community?

• What is your average sale-to-list ratio? (This is a home’s final sale price divided by the last list price).

• What sets you apart from your competition?

• Can you tell me a bit about your pricing strategy?

• How might you market my home?

Of course, one of the most important considerations is your comfort level. An interview will provide you with a window into how a given professional does business—and allow you to assess how well you’ll likely get along during the selling process.

The Right Qualities

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to interviewing a seller’s agent. That said, there are a number of traits that the professional you work with should have. Here are just a few of the qualities to look out for:

Local experience

Whether they’re helping you set the perfect price or assisting you in marketing your property to local buyers, an agent’s area knowledge is crucial. A professional who knows your community—from neighbourhood schools to how much local homes have recently sold for—is well-positioned to help you locate and work with the right buyer.

Industry expertise

Of course, your agent should be more than a local insider. Before you start working with them, you should ensure that they understand the process inside and out. Try asking about everything from their staging and marketing to their strategies for handling multiple offers and unexpected closing details. Their answers will provide a lot of insight into their experience.

A strong track record

While hearing what an agent would theoretically do in various scenarios is helpful, their past performance is usually an even better indicator of how they’ll serve you. For the homes they’ve sold, what is their average days-on-market? How many homes did they sell last year? Asking for and carefully considering an agent’s statistics can be helpful.

What To Ask For

When an agent tells you about the results they’ve achieved for clients, you don’t have to take their word for it. If you want to learn what working with them is really like, consider requesting potential references.

On the marketing front, you’ll want to ask to view some past materials. From flyers to online listings, everything used to promote a home should be appealing, polished, and professional-looking. If you find the samples you see compelling, chances are that the agent responsible for them has what it takes to market your property with finesse!

Interested in learning how we can help you sell your home? Reach out today to set up a consultation!