What Questions Should You Ask When Interviewing Agents To Sell Your Home

What questions should you ask when interview real estate agents to help you buy or sell a home?

While not all of these questions apply to every situation, here are some things that may be important to your real estate transaction. You should consider which areas are most important to you and focus on the answers to those questions.

For example, relocation buyers will need an agent that is very familiar with the area and most likely need an agent that is tech-savvy for completing the transaction remotely.  A seller that is also buying a home may need an agent with a lot of marketing experience plus the resources to help them coordinate their transactions.  In all cases, references are important.

Consider these questions/topics:

• Top Three Things That Make the Agent Different? Examples can range from marketing to knowledge.  Acceptable answers are:

• Strong repeat record of satisfied customers
• Extensive online marketing
• Good negotiation skills
• Extensive resources for financing, inspections, moving, etc

• What market education can you share with me to help me make my decisions?
• How Long Have You Been in the Business?
• How much continuing education do you take or extra certifications do you have?
• Best Marketing Plan / Strategy?
• What areas do they service?
• References/Testimonials?
• Have you received any special recognition or awards in real estate?
• Average List-to-Sales-Price Ratio?
• How many homes have they have sold in the past year?

While some of these are facts that can be verified, some facts can be skewed by perception.

For example, be careful to listen for buzz words and phrases like "my TEAM has sold x number of houses" where TEAM indicates they didn't personally accomplish those sales.

You will have to use your own intuition to decide if the agent is honest and working with integrity. 

When it comes to making the decision to hire an agent, it's best to be upfront about what you are looking for and see if that agent can accommodate and more importantly if they are honest if they can't fulfill your expectation. For example, if you want you luxury home sold in 10 days the agent should be quick to show you average market statistics to give you a reasonable expectation and adjust planning vs just quickly promising the sale.  If most luxury homes sell in 90 days, what might you be sacrificing to sell in 10 days?  You want to know!

Remember, honest agents don't just tell you what you want to hear!  They will show you facts and educate you.

Ready to interview me?  Just give me a call!

Published 11/19/13