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10 Things To Expect From Your Real Estate Agent When Selling A Home

KyleHiscock

10 Things To Expect From Your Real Estate Agent When Selling AHome

Selling a home can be a very stressfulexperience. Tasks such as consistentlygetting and keeping a home ready forshowings and having to wonder when and ifa home is going to sell are just a coupleexamples of the stressful things that a sellerexperiences when selling their home.

What about selecting the real estate agentwho will be selling your home? It’s extremelyimportant that you select the “right” realestate agent to sell your home. In mostcommunities across the United States thereare several hundred or even thousands ofreal estate agents to choose from! Everyreal estate agent has different personal traits,different selling techniques, different ways tomarket homes, and different skill levels, justto name a few differences. In the majority ofcommunities there are a handful of topproducing real estate agents, a fair amountof average real estate agents, and lots ofbad real estate agents.

So, what should be expected of the realestate agent when selling your home? Ifyour home is currently listed by a real estateagent and the following 10 things are notbeing practiced, then unfortunately your realestate agent falls into the “lots of bad realestate agent” category. If you haven’tchosen your real estate agent yet, be sure tobe on the lookout for the following 10 things!

The following 10 things are extremelyimportant for a real estate agent to possessin order to be successful in getting your home sold!

HonestyBeing honest and telling the truth are extremely important (and also part of the National Association of Realtors®Code of Ethics) traits to look for in a real estate agent. While it’s not always possible to tell when a person is beingdishonest or not telling the truth, there are other ways to tell if a real estate agent is telling the truth!

Real Estate Agents Must Be Creative When Selling Your Home

A great way to find out if a real estate agent is an honest person is to ask them for five of their recent sellers’ contactinformation. Keep in mind, however, any past seller must give their permission for the real estate agent to providetheir contact information. Once you have five of their past clients information, pick up the phone or e-mail them to askabout their experience working with the agent. Another good idea to learn about past clients of the real estate agentis to ask for testimonials.

If a real estate agent is unable to provide past clients contact information and/or past client testimonials, it usuallymeans either they are not being honest with what they are telling you or they don’t have any past clients. Either way,a real estate agent who cannot provide contact information of past clients or testimonials, maybe a real estate agentto not choose to represent you to sell your home.

ProfessionalismThis is a trait that most sellers’ would assume that all real estate agents have, and unfortunately, that is not the case. What kind of actions show that a real estate agent possesses professionalism? One “tell tale” way to know if a realestate agent is professional is by their image. When selling a home, a real estate agent should be well groomed andwell dressed. A real estate agent who wears ripped jeans, a v-neck tee-shirt, and sneakers is less likely to be takenseriously by his colleagues as well as prospective buyers of your home.

Another extremely important part of professionalism for a real estate agent to possess, is their respect of others time. It’s very frustrating for a real estate agent who coordinates private viewings on several homes, just to have a buyershow up 20 minutes late or never show up. A seller should expect the same of their real estate agent. If an initialappointment is setup for a real estate agent to look at your home at a specific time and they show up 20 minutes late,they are likely lacking in the professionalism “department,” as they clearly don’t respect your time!

Strong Negotiation SkillsThe job of a real estate agent who is representing a seller, in a nut-shell, is to get the most money for their clientshome in the least amount of time! A real estate agent should know what to say to a buyers representative and whento say it. A sellers real estate agent should not send a counter-offer from their client back to the buyers representativewithout any dialogue. If this were the case, what is the need for real estate agents? The sellers real estateagents job is to be the voice of the seller!

Generally in life there are people who avoid confrontation and conflict at all costs. If this is the personality of a sellersreal estate agent, the seller is likely to not maximize the price they receive for their house!

CreativitySelling a home is not as easy as putting asign in your front lawn and waiting for a fullprice offer. There are many real estateagents who do believe this works, alsoknown as a “post and pray Realtor.” Creativity is a very important trait for a realestate agent to have when selling a home. No two homes are exactly the same,therefore, every home has to be marketed intheir own special way. A real estate agentmust be creative with the use of theirproperty description, angles they take theirphotos, and how they write theiradvertisements.

Much of the general public believes thatselling real estate is a very easy career and

that lots of money can be made with verylittle effort and time! This leads to many realestate agents entering the business, many ofwhich don’t take into consideration what ittruly takes to sell real estate! Creativity isone trait where many new real estate agentsfall short because it’s not as simple asputting a sign in the front yard of a home andexpecting it to sell! This ultimately leads tothese new real estate agents failing in thebusiness!

Experience & Proven ResultsA very common mistake made by sellerswhen selling a home is not researching thereal estate agents experience and pastresults. It’s very common that a seller willchoose a real estate agent because they aretheir best friend or a colleagues spouse. Certainly their best friend or colleaguesspouse could be a great real estate agent,but make sure you know this is really thecase before choosing them! Selecting thefirst real estate agent you know can be ahuge mistake!

When selling your home, make sure to findout how many transactions they do over thecourse of a year. Are they a full-time realestate agent or a part-timer? Do they haveexperience selling similar homes? A full-timereal estate agent who sells 100 homes ayear and has been doing so for the past 5years has a better chance ofselling your home than a part-time realestate agent who has been in the business for 6 months and has sold one home! The more transactions a realestate agent does, the better they will know how to handle specific situations!

A Great Company & Personal ReputationOne thing that can be detrimental to a real estate company or real estate agent is a poor reputation! The mostsuccessful real estate agents will get a large percentage of repeat and referral business. Certainly an agent with apoor reputation or a company with a poor reputation will not! When selling a home, researching the local real estatecompanies and agents is important. It’s very easy with the internet now to see what a real estate company or realestate agents online reputation and reviews are.

In most communities across the country, there is one real estate broker who is known as the “go-to” for real estate. Itisn’t necessarily always a national company or franchise either. If unsure, a non-statistical way to find out is bydriving down your neighborhood streets to see which companies for-sale signs are prominent. Another excellent wayto find out which real estate company is the “go-to” for local real estate is by asking a real estate agent for the marketshare statistics. A real estate agent should be able to provide these statistics for each and every community in theircoverage area. Remember, a great real estate company and an agent with a great reputation is important!

Exceptional Technology, Marketing, & Social Media Presence Should Be Expected FromYour Real Estate Agent

Large Network Of Business ConnectionsGreat professionals align themselves with other great professionals. When selecting a real estate agent to sell ahome, it’s important to find out what service and business connections they have to offer. Do they have real estateattorneys to suggest? Do they have mortgage consultants to suggest to potential purchasers? Do they have arelocation network they belong too? Do they have movers they can suggest once the house is sold? If you’reinterviewing, ask the real estate agent for a list of their preferred partner or vendor list! A real estate agent should beable to provide this list of service and business recommendations in no time!

Frequent CommunicationLack of communication is one of the most reoccurring feedback topics from a dissatisfied seller! As mentionedabove, selling a home is stressful, and not being communicated with from your real estate agent can make it evenworse. As imagined, a seller who selects an agent with poor communication may start to wonder if their real estateagent is even selling real estate anymore!

A very important interview question to ask a real estate agent is about their communication. There are many realestate agents who don’t feel the need to follow up for feedback from private showings of their sellers property. This isa huge disservice to their clients! It’s extremely important that a real estate agent provides feedback from the buyersreal estate agent, in a timely fashion. While this isn’t always possible as some buyers agent may never providefeedback, 95% of the time a seller should expect feedback from showings on their property!

It’s also important to find out how a real estate agent communicates. A real estate agent should be able to adapt toyour preferred communication method. If text messaging is preferred during “business hours,” that’s how the realestate agent should communicate. If a real estate agent is unable to accommodate the preferred method, it’s verypossible the level of communication is going to be sub-par.

Use Of “Cutting-Edge” TechnologyStaying current on the greatest and latesttechnology is extremely important for realestate agents now-a-days! It’s important tofind out what technology tools that a realestate agent utilizes when selling a home! The fact of the matter is many real estateagents are still stuck in the “stone-age” andare miles behind in technology. Believe it ornot, there are still real estate agents whodon’t know how to utilize e-mail and still faxpurchase offers!

Utilizing technology helps a real estate agentbe more efficient and have more time tospend on selling homes! Some very populartechnology tools that help real estateagents include tools such as digital signaturesoftware, Dropbox, iCloud, Evernote, andBuffer. There are many cutting-edge “tech”tools that real estate agents should beutilizing!

Another thing to ask a real estate agent priorto selecting them to sell your home is aboutthe quality of their photos. Does the realestate agent take high quality photos by

using a top of the line camera? Since somany buyers start their home search online,it’s imperative that the photos of your homeare high quality. If a real estate agent takespoor photos, it’s possible a buyer will rule outyour home before even walking through yourfront door!

A Comprehensive Marketing PlanIt’s important to understand that anoverpriced home cannot be sold by the bestreal estate agent in town who has the bestmarketing plan! Overpricing a home is avery common mistake that sellers make. Sowhat does a comprehensive marketing planentail? A real estate agent needs to have astrong balance of both “older” marketingtactics and “newer” marketing tactics in theirplan!

“Older” marketing tactics that you shouldexpect from a real estate agent includetactics such as newspaper advertisements,direct mailings, and television advertising. The first thing you need to find out from areal estate agent is whether or not theyutilize these forms of marketing. Many realestate agents will not because it costs themmoney. It’s also a good idea to ask a realestate agent about the frequency of thesemarketing tactics. Do they plan on puttingthe house in the newspaper once a month? On TV every other month? This caneliminate any frustration down the road whenyou don’t see your home in the newspaperon a daily basis!

“Newer” marketing tactics that you should expect from a real estate agent include tactics such as their own personalwebsite, their own personal blog, and active social media profiles. It’s important not only for the real estate agentsbroker to have a prominent website but also their own website as it generates a greater chance for your home to befound online! Seeing as the majority of home buyers are now starting their search online, it’s crucial that a real estateagent has a very strong online presence.

A couple things to consider; Is the real estate agent active on Pinterest? Is the real estate agent an active blogger? Do they have a strong following on Twitter? If a real estate agent is lacking their own website, their own blog, or isnot active on social media websites, you may want to reconsider selecting them to sell your home!

The above 10 things are something that you should expect from your real estate agent when selling a home! In orderfor a real estate professional to have a long and successful career, they must possess these things. If not, it’s likelythey will not make it in the business. What other things do you think should be expected from a real estateagent when selling a home?

Other Home Selling Resources

How To Avoid Seller’s Remorse When Selling Your Home by Debbie Drummond

20 Cold, Hard, Facts in Real Estate Home Selling by Lynn Pineda

Don’t Shoot Yourself in The Foot When Selling a Home by Joe Manausa

If you are planning on selling your home in the Webster, NY or surround areas, please contact us as we’d love toexplain how we will get the job done! We are top real estate agents in the Webster, NY and surrounding areas. Wesimply do things different than other real estate agents!

About the authors: The above article “10 Things to Expect From Your Real Estate Agent When Selling A Home”was provided by the Keith Hiscock Sold Team (Keith & Kyle Hiscock). With over 30 years combined experience, ifyou’re thinking of selling or buying, we’d love to share our knowledge and expertise.

We service the following Greater Rochester NY areas: Irondequoit, Webster, Penfield, Pittsford, Fairport, Brighton,Greece, Gates, Hilton, Brockport, Mendon, Henrietta, Perinton, Churchville, Scottsville, East Rochester, Rush,Honeoye Falls, Chili, and Victor NY.

Visit our website at www.HiscockHomes.com.