If I asked you to name your top 10 friends you could probably rattle them off without a second thought. Chances are you probably have one or two who are in Real Estate. Would you hire them to help you buy or sell a home? That’s a really tough question that you’ll have to answer for yourself. However, here are a few guidelines to consider before you make one of the most important decisions.
Helping a friend… At what cost?
Let’s say you need reconstructive knee surgery. Do you go to your friend, who happens to be a general surgeon? No, you probably go to the best surgeon in town who specializes in reconstructive knee surgery, right? Well, while selling a home isn’t surgery – it IS kind of like financial surgery – for most people their home is their most precious financial asset. So ask yourself: do you go to a friend, to help them out, or do you help yourself out by seeking out the best Realtor in Pinellas County who’ll bring you the highest sale price for your home?
What if something goes wrong?
If you do decide to hire your friend – and everything goes according to plan – they might work very hard to sell your house and you may indeed be very pleased with their effort.
But what if it doesn’t work out quite according to plan?
What will you do then? If your house doesn’t sell right away or you aren’t happy with how your home is being marketed to potential buyers… then what? How will you handle a potentially awkward conversation and will that conversation affect your friendship?
It’s important to remember that your home is likely your most valuable financial asset. Therefore, its only normal to feel very protective of it and very interested in making sure the business transactions involved with selling it go the way you want. If things aren’t moving in the direction you are comfortable with – or you want something done a specific way – you want to know you can hold your agent accountable. If you friend is your agent will that create a strain on the relationship, or worse, will you not say anything in an effort not to offend your friend?
Making the Right Decision
Whether you hire your friend or not — it’s worth having them go through an interview process just like any other agent would have to before you make a final decision. Just as you would interview potential pediatricians for your child, or a new doctor for yourself, it is wise to be just as discerning when you are choosing your Realtor. Here are a few questions to consider before making a decision on who should represent you.
1.) How many homes have you sold in the last 6 months or the last year?
This is an important question because you’ll want to know how seriously they take their business. Is this a Realtor who will be available to you all of the time or is this a part-time job for them? Also, it gives you an idea of how aggressive they are in the market.
2.) How long is a home you list typically on the market?
Is this someone who can get the job done in a timely manner? Are they marketing the homes they are listing in such a way that they sell quickly for at or very close to the listing price?
3.) How long have you been representing buyers and sellers in this area?
This question will give you an idea of how much experience they have in the area you are buying or selling in. It’s great to have a Realtor who has been in the business for 20 years but you’ll want to know how much of that is where you want to buy or sell.
4.) How will you communicate with me?
In the era of technology it’s important to come to an agreement of how your Realtor should contact you. For example, do you prefer to be reached with a phone call or a text message?
5.) Can I see a copy of your Marketing Plan?
This should be a printed plan that the agent has for your home, and it should include, but not be limited to, a sign in the yard, MLS entry, internet listings. But what else? Does the agent include professional photography? Will there be a YouTube video (YouTube is the 2nd highest ranked website on the web)? Will the agent do any print advertising? Postcards? Magazines? Google Adwords? Facebook Sponsored posts? Blog posts? Etc? Not to mention – what about an Open House? Here’s a sample of my marketing plan, so you have an idea. The agent should also show you some samples of the marketing they did on homes they sold, perhaps some sample postcards, or some of the types of print ads they do, or a sample YouTube movie they did of the home.
6.) What is your List-to-Sell ratio?
If the agent hesitates at ALL on this question, or doesn’t seem to know what a list-to-sell ratio is, RUN!!! This is, perhaps, the most important question of all. It tells you what kind of negotiating skills the agent has. Let’s say I have a listing that was listed for $1,000,000, and it sold for $980,000. Well then my list to sell ratio is 98%. The local average is 93-95% – so the higher your agent’s list-to-sell ratio is above that, the better negotiator they likely are. And in this price point – that could mean hundreds of thousands more in your pocket!
7.) Are you full-time? Do you have a team?
So your sister’s boyfriend’s cousin has his real estate license and he does it part-time when he’s not working at his full-time job at Walmart. He says he’ll reduce his commission too. Is this the professional you really want? And are they really going to save you money, or might they cost you money because they don’t know what they are doing and aren’t a good negotiator? Will you be able to reach him when you need him if he’s got a 9 to 5 job?
These are just a few important questions to ask your potential Realtor. Don’t be afraid to interview a few Realtors. Chances are you’ll have a gut feeling as to who you will work best with. Realtors are very used to this process and the best ones – including a good friend – will likely encourage it. If your friend is one of the top agents in town, full-time, with the stats and sales to back them up, and you are fully willing to fire them if they don’t do a great job for you – they may well be the one for you. But if they are not, a real friend will understand if you pick someone who has all the best qualities to represent you in selling your most precious financial asset.
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