Finding the Right Agent Means Asking the Right Questions

The smartest home sellers get their residences into “model home”

condition. That means cleaning out closets, having a garage sale or

perhaps calling the Salvation Army to haul away your reusable items.

Some realty agents even recommend hiring professional home “stagers”

who will remove the seller’s old furniture and replace it with showroom

rental furniture.

The key to a successful home sale, especially at this time of year, is

to hire the best realty agent. Ask friends, neighbors and business

associates for their recommendations.

Also visit nearby open houses to meet agents who are selling

neighborhood homes. More important, you’ll want to see how they treat

prospects and inspect their competitive listings.

Check the newspaper classified ads for homes for sale in your

vicinity. Then phone the three or four agents who seem most successful in

selling nearby homes. Ask them to give you their listing presentations.

They will be eager to do so.

Be sure to have a list of questions for the agents you interview. Here

are five key questions to include:

1. What do you think my home is worth?

After each agent inspects your residence, he or she should prepare a

written comparative market analysis. This form shows recent sales prices

of comparable homes, asking prices of nearby residences now for sale and

listings that didn’t sell.

Check the comparable home sales used by each agent. Are they the same

as those of other agents you interview? If not, why not?

Each agent will then recommend an asking price for your home, but

don’t be fooled by one common tactic. Some agents “high ball” their

estimates, hoping to get your listing. Those agents then ask for price

reductions later.

2. What is your marketing plan for my home?

The best agents will prepare a written marketing plan for your home

sale. Each agent should include the local multiple listing service, the

most powerful sales tool available because it gives your home maximum

market exposure to all local agents.

Watch out for any agent who doesn’t use the multiple listings. These

agents are trying to keep sales commissions within their brokerage

offices. That’s good for them but bad for sellers and buyers. Insist that

your listing be put into the local listing service for distribution to

members.

Also, inquire about Internet marketing through the agent’s Web site,

plus the local and national multiple listings on the Internet.

In addition, each agent’s marketing plan should include weekly

newspaper advertising of your home, plus brochures and local home sales

magazine ads.

The plan should include at least weekly phone calls or activity

reports to you about your home showings and reactions of prospective

buyers and other agents. Be sure to insist on written copies of your

listing service information and weekly ads and a printout of your home’s

Internet listing.

3. How long a listing do you require?

The best agents will tell you they want a 90-day listing. That length

gives the agents plenty of time to market your home but not too much time

if you want a prompt sale. As most agents know, they work hardest,

smartest and fastest just before the listing expires.

Other agents will tell you they want a six-month listing. Their

strategy is to tell you something like this: “The average home here sells

in 121 days, so I need a six-month listing.” But you don’t want an

“average” agent.

If an agent doesn’t have enough confidence in his or her ability to

sell your home in 90 days, don’t list with that agent. However, if an

exceptional agent wants a 180-day listing but will include an

unconditional cancellation clause, that is acceptable.

4. What are the names and phone numbers of your last 10 home sellers?

The best agents will give you their home seller (not buyer) references

before you ask. When agents refuse this information, such as by saying,

“That information is confidential,” they are hiding poor records. When

you phone each previous seller, ask: “Were you in any way unhappy with

your agent? Would you list your home again with the same agent?”

Also inquire about the agent’s recent listings that didn’t sell. Even

the best agents have them. Phone those sellers to inquire why their homes

didn’t sell. But be aware that unsold homes were often overpriced and the

sellers might have refused to reduce the asking price to market value.

5. How many listings do you have, and what percentage of your listings

sell?

Beware of “numbers agents,” who have more than 20 listings and know

only a percentage of those listings will sell. That implies impersonal

service.

Successful agents who have 10 to 20 listings will have the time to

sell your home for top price. An agent who takes a high number of

listings but sells relatively few of them, say 50%, is not the best agent

for you.

Incidentally, the longer the agent has been selling homes in your

community, the better. The top agents work on referrals. For example, I

enjoy working with a local agent who has been around about 15 years.

We’ve had at least a dozen transactions together, and he’s always

available when I want to buy or sell a property.

Summary: Interview at least three successful local realty agents and

ask these five key questions before selecting the best agent to get your

home listing. Since this is one of your biggest financial transactions,

hire the agent you think will maximize the probability of selling yourhome for top dollar within 90 days.

Robert J. Bruss is a syndicated columnist as well as a real estate investor, lawyer, broker and educator in the Bay Area.