How to Choose the Right Agent When Listing Your Home
Hiring the right professional to sell your home can seem like a complicated task. How do you know they are the right fit for you? Will they sell your home for top dollar? Can you rely on them to answer all your questions? Fear no more! With this list of questions to ask your potential real estate agent, you can guarantee you will make the right decision.
How long have you been in real estate?
Real Estate seems to be the new “it” profession and real estate schools are producing more and more agents every single day. In the Ocean County MLS alone there are over 2,000 agents from 160 different offices, with more agents being added daily.
Hire an experienced agent who will handle this major transaction in a professional manner and be able to answer any and all questions along the way.
Are you a full-time or part-time agent?
Finding an agent whose primary job is real estate is key. A part-time agent may not be able to get back to you right away or answer your phone call while they are at their other job. Don’t let anyone put you or your home on the back burner! Having a dedicated, full-time agent to handle one of the largest financial transactions of your life will put your mind at ease.
How many homes have you sold in your career?
In the real estate industry, experience matters! The agent will know the ins and outs of the buying and selling process and be able to guide you to make the correct decision.
What is your average sales price?
Hire an agent who is comfortable listing your home in your price range. If your home is worth a million dollars stray away from agents with a max selling price of $100,000 as the market will be completely different.
How Many Long Beach Island homes have you sold?
Look for a listing agent who has sold other homes in your area. If you live on Long Beach Island, it is probably not a good idea to list your home with an agent who’s only sold homes in North Jersey.
Do you have your own website?
Look for an agent who has their own professional website with its own domain name and who understands the importance of Internet marketing. Definitely list with a real estate agent who has a professional, easy to navigate website that ranks higher than the competition.
Will my listing be featured on your website?
Agents should have a section just for their listings only. If they do, your home will stand out among the rest when visitors come to their website.
Your listing agent should also ensure that your listing gets uploaded to all of the major real estate sites, such as Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia and other sites.
Do you have a marketing plan?
This is probably one of your most important questions to ask. Any agent can get a listing, put it in the MLS and have it sit there. Your agent should always have a plan of attack. How are they going to market your home so it stands out among the rest?
Selling your home is most likely the largest financial transaction of your life. Hiring the right agent, with a bunch of experience in your market is a crucial step. Don’t just go for the agent who has the best pitch or their face on a big shiny billboard. Sit down and get to know them, and don’t forget to ask them these questions!
We would love to answer all these questions, plus more! Feel free to contact us here.