10 Questions To Ask Your Agent
A home purchase or sale is one of the biggest financial decisions a person will make in their lives. It’s important that you choose the right agent to handle such a massive investment.
The right agent can save you thousands of dollars. On the flip side, the wrong agent can cost you thousands of dollars. Not all agents are created equal, and if you go into choosing one unprepared, it could cost you extra dollars you don’t need to spend.
Before you choose an agent, ask them these questions to ensure you will get the comprehensive service you deserve.
#1: What Makes You Different? The real estate market is tougher than it was a decade ago, and there are thousands upon thousands of agents you could choose from. What makes this one different? Why should you list with them? What will they do to make your home stand out? What does this agent offer that will help your home sell in the least amount of time, for the most amount of money?
#2: What Is Your Track Record? It seems that everywhere you look, real estate agents have some promise to make, or title they hold - number 1 for this or that, or monetary guarantees. While these seem important, one of the biggest questions you should ask regarding an agents track record is how many homes they have sold. This will be a clear indicator of how the agent functions. If they have only sold a handful of homes, especially in a booming sellers’ market, ask yourself why that is and consider what factors may be contributing to that. Is it that they do not have the funds to market effectively? Is it that they do not have an assistant, leaving them juggling all the aspects of the sale themselves? Is it that real estate is their side hustle rather than their primary focus? These are important things to know as they can indicate whether or not their service to you may suffer.
#3: What Are Your Marketing Plans? Ask the agent how much time and money goes into advertising the homes they list versus the other agents you are considering. What platforms are they using, and what do they know about their effectiveness? How many people do they tend to reach in their marketing endeavours? A good agent should have a solid marketing plan ready for any home they list.
#4: What Else Has Sold? Your agent should be able to provide you with a complete listing of both their own, and other comparable sales in your area.
#5: Who Controls Your Advertising? Ask the agent if they are the ones who control their advertising, or if their broker does. If the broker controls the advertising, your home will be competing for advertising space not only with this agent’s other listings, but with all the other agents’ listings in the brokerage.
#6: How Close To List Do You Sell? On average, how close to the listing price do this agent’s sales prices get? A few thousand? Ten thousand? This performance will help you predict how much this agent will be able to sell your house for.
#7: How Long To Sell? On average, how many days do this agent’s listings spend on the market? Do they get homes sold quickly, or do they tend to drag on? This is another gauge to predict the how the sale of your home will go.
#8: How Many Buyers Are You Working With? If the agent is working with a handful of buyers currently, this may mean your home will be sold faster, as they already have a small database of buyers to show the home to.
#9: Do You Have References? Does the agent have a list of clients you can contact? Do they have a profile on a review site like RankMyAgent? Do they have Google reviews you can browse to get an idea from past clients how they operate?
#10: What If I’m Not Satisfied? What happens if you aren’t happy with the job they’re doing to sell your home? Can you cancel the listing contract? Be wary of agents who lock you into contracts where only they can get out of it but you cannot. Are they penalties for cancelling the contract?