How To Interview A Seller’s Agent When Selling A Home

Posted by Steve Harmer on Saturday, January 28th, 2017 at 12:02pm.

When you are selling your home, choosing the real estate agent who will represent your best interests is one of the first steps in the process and probably one of, if not, the most important.

Follow these tips and common questions when interviewing a Realtor to sell your home and you will be on your way to a smooth and relatively stress-free sale!

How Long Have You Been Selling Real Estate

How long have you been Selling Real Estate?

Probably one of the most obvious questions that will come to mind in your interview process. Generally speaking, the more years of experience an agent has, the more sales they have had - increasing their experience in different situations. However, this is not always the case though as there can be new agents on the market who may sell your home better than an agent with over 20 years in the industry.

Are you a full-time agent?

There are many who believe being a real estate agent is easy money and doesn’t take a lot of effort or time. In order to be a top producing agent, it’s a MUST to be full-time. It’s highly likely that a part-time agent will not have the time or availability to field calls for showing requests from other agents or follow-up on inquiries on your property, due to their full-time position.

What Avenues of Marketing and Advertising Do You Use

Do you utilize the internet for marketing your homes for sale?

Just like most industry, the Internet has radically changed the real estate industry. A real estate agent who says that the Internet is not a vital part of their lead generation and their sales, either does not understand the power of the Web or has not adapted to the change.

Before you meet with a prospective agent, Google their name. Since over 90% of all home buying searches begin on the Internet, it is paramount to understand how agents market their homes.

Do you utilize social media?

Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin (Be sure to follow me if you haven't already!). All things I'm sure you have heard of right? Of course! By utilizing social media, a Realtor is able to give their clients additional exposure. And our job when selling a home is to make sure we give our clients the most exposure possible.

Do you have a real estate blog?

A blog gives agents an opportunity to write about the questions they frequently get asked, current topics in the industry, and most importantly to you, what they are selling. When it comes to social media, there is this belief called the 80/20 rule. 80% shareable data, 20% direct information. When a Realtor blasts their Facebook Pages with nothing but listings, they got unfollowed, decreasing the exposure in your home. Blogs allow agents to create shareable data, indirectly driving traffic to your listings.

What quality of camera do you use when taking photos of the homes you sell?

If you are here reading this, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you've looked at a few homes online. If that's the case, you've probably asked yourself, "How can someone take such awful photos?" Let's face it, taking great photos is not a trait everyone has. When looking at prospective agents, ask what quality of a camera they use to take listing photos, or if they choose to outsource it to a professional photographer.

In addition to that, ask if they have any advice when it comes to getting the home prepped for listing photos. Personally, I give all my clients a checklist to go through, which is included in their listing bundle.

How Do You Determine The Listing Price

What methods do you use to determine the listing price of the homes you sell?

In most cases, agents while choose to use something called the comparative market analysis (CMA). During the interview, ask to see an example of a CMA. Pay attention to the detail used in the analysis. The more detailed the analysis is, the more time and effort spent.

How Frequent and Which Methods Do You Communicate

How often do you reach out to your sellers?

One of the biggest complaints in the real estate industry is a lack of communication. Find out how often they communicate with their sellers so that you are not let down in the future. Even better, take charge and state how often you wish to be contacted.

Which methods of communication do you use with your sellers?

Ask how they will be communicating with you. If you prefer to be contacted through text message or e-mail instead of phone calls, make sure your agent is willing to communicate in that form.

What Other Services Can I Expect To Receive

Do you have a list of vendors that you can recommend?

If there is one thing I can tell you about being a real estate agent, it is that only a small part of our job is actually selling and buying homes. Our job is all about networking, being the go-to person when someone needs a recommendation on a service. Ask if they have a list of tradespeople, lawyers, movers, mortgage brokers, etc, that they can recommend.

When I get asked if I know someone who can do something, I want to be positive that I can recommend someone that I have either met or done business with. I DO NOT want to second hand recommend someone.

Can you recommend me any tips to make my home more salable?

Your agent should have the ability to make recommendations before your home listed to make it more salable.

I give all my clients a pre-listing package to go through before I list their home. As well, my blog is full of useful information with more being added every week.

Do you do open houses?

Your agent has a toolbox full of ways to add exposure to your listing. MLS, social media, and print advertising just to name a few. Open houses are still a reasonable source of traffic to your house but are more important in a buyers market