3 Questions to Ask Any Real Estate Agent BEFORE Hiring Them

Who you hire to list your property is one of the most, if not the most, important choice you can make in the process. Sure, most people know the standard questions, which usually are:

1)How long have you been an agent?
2)How much do you charge?
3)How long will it take you to sell our property?

And the list goes on. Unfortunately, those questions, and ones like them, may not be proper indicators of how your experience with that agent will go. Today, we go over 3 questions that are generally "overlooked" in that introductory meeting and we believe the answers to these questions are more indicative of your prospective experience!

1) What is Their Availability? How Will They Communicate With Me?

Is the agent part-time or full-time? Will they be there to host all your open houses, talk you through situations, give advice? How will they, and how often will they, be in contact with you? Sounds silly that you would have to ask these questions but if the real estate agent gives off ANY other impression other than they work for YOU, that is a HUGE red flag. Having an agent that communicates regularly and will not disappear when you need them most is vital to the process, whether you are a first time seller or this is not your first rodeo.  Nobody wants to miss their kid's 5 month birthday, but you, the client, should ALWAYS be first, within reason of course :) 

2)How Did They Arrive at Their Suggested Listing Price?

Generally the answer to this is pretty easy, a Comparative Market Analysis(CMA). Where the easy becomes "interesting" is how the agent did their CMA. Of course your property is worth the price someone is willing to pay for it, but that initial listing generates the tone. Price too high and people may not visit or have it in their search parameters, and if you price too low, you are leaving money on the table. This answer ALWAYS needs to be backed by data. This data is material, such as square footage, condition, bedrooms, bathrooms, lot size, etc. Avoid telling the agent how much YOU think your home is worth. An agent will want the listing and list it high, which could cause your property to sit for longer than it should!!!

3)How Will They Market Your Property?

This is HUGE! Any agent you consider SHOULD have a marketing strategy in mind for your particular type of property. Clearly, they will be able to list it on the MLS and anyone with an electronic should be able to find it, but there is and SHOULD be far more to it! Some questions you should consider asking an agent in regards to this:

A. Will they have professional pictures taken? Should be a no-brainer but some agents will try and be cheap and use an iPhone and photoshop(seriously). If the answer is anything but yes, you should look another way, regardless if you are listing a $200k property or a $700k property. Photos are the first introduction of your property to a buyer and you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

B. Will they offer staging advice? Again, this is big. How a property is staged will help a buyer visualize it as theirs in the future. An agent should be able to give you advice on staging and what will make the property show better. Agents who have purchased homes themselves tend to have more to offer here!

C. Will you be responsible for any of the marketing? This is important as well. Will the agent attempt to pass any marketing costs to you? If so, RED FLAG. As agents, we are paid to do a job and marketing is part of it. We get ours when we complete our portion of the deal! Of course if the agent asks you to share it on social media, it would be in your best interest to do so :) 

In Conclusion...

Who you choose to list your property can have lasting ramifications. Choose the wrong listing agent, being unable to sell, have to pull the house and then re-list it, could diminish what your return is. An agent doing a poor job of marketing, including but not limited to, not hosting open houses, not advertising in papers(if applicable) or on social media, could lead to your property sitting on the market and them having to offer a "price improvement". Know your agent and make sure your agent knows what they are doing!!