People often ask how they should determine with whom they should market their house. Aren’t real estate agents really all the same? Don’t they all do the same thing? Shouldn’t I just hire the one that charges me the lowest commission rate?
The answer to each of these questions is NO!
In any other profession, there are good and not so good practitioners. Real estate is no different. How long it will take to sell your home will be determined by the quality of agent you hire. The price you will receive will be determined by the agent you select.
How can you tell the pretenders from the professionals?
Here is a good checklist to use when interviewing potential agents:
The pretenders tell you what you want to hear. The professionals tell you everything you need to know.
The pretenders worry about your feelings and place great emphasis on whether or not you will like them. The professionals worry about your family and how they can help.
The pretenders are afraid you will ask a lot of questions about the changes in the current real estate market. The professionals take the time to simply and effectively explain your options in today’s rapidly evolving market.
The pretenders will spend the majority of time talking about themselves and their company. The professionals will spend the majority of time talking about your family’s needs and goals and how they plan to help you reach them.
The pretenders think you hired them to list the house. The professionals realize you hired them to do one thing – get the house sold.
I hope I helped you do two things:
- Realize there are major differences in the professionalism of real estate agents
- There is a way to determine the true professional during the interview process.
