CHOOSING A REALTOR FOR THE WRONG REASONS CAN BE EXPENSIVE
There are many good and compelling reasons to hire a REALTOR® to represent you in the sale of your home. Make sure that you are not making your choice for the wrong reasons.
Big Mistake - Choosing someone who suggests a high listing price.
Sad but true, some agents will give you an inflated listing price, simply to “buy the listing”. This may be as a result of inexperience or it may be a result of something a little more devious.....
These agents will suggest a higher price to get the listing, thereafter employing a strategy of “beating you down” when the house doesn’t attract many showings and no offers.
Some real estate training programs actually teach this to new agents as a viable strategy to increase a realtor’s listing portfolio.
These agents are not doing the homeowner a favor, even though it may seem so at the time. Pricing the house too high at the critical “just listed” stage can ruin your chances for a sale. Other agents simply won’t show the house because they recognize the inflated price. And there it sits, waiting for the serious buyers who aren't coming.
When you finally drop the price to an appropriate level, the house has “become stale and tired” and buyers respond accordingly with lowball offers because they sense, rightly or wrongly, that you may be becoming desperate for a sale or that you just want to get rid of the place because it has been on the market for so long.
The longer that the house is on the market, the lower the offered prices tend to be. It is quite common for sellers to eventually receive significantly less than they would have got if the home had been properly priced from the beginning.
To make things even worse, your high priced listing helps to sell other houses that are properly priced. Realtors will use your home as an example to point out to their clients the value in other houses. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound. Ouch!!
Big Mistake - Choosing agent who discounts sales commission.
As with nearly everything else in life, you get what you pay for. There is no free lunch.
Discount brokers generally pound a sign in your yard, list your house on the MLS, and precious little else. Frankly, they don’t have the resources or the incentive to do much more.
Marketing and advertising cost money that is paid up front by the agent. Discount brokers simply can’t afford to do more than a minimal job of promoting your property. If your home isn’t seen by buyers, how can they get interested in it? There are a lot of houses on the market. It is easy for your house to get lost in the crowd without an effective marketing and advertising strategy.
Consider this: real estate agents make their living by making commissions. Given the choice between showing homes that offer a customary level of commission or those that offer only a cut-rate, discounted commission, which houses would you be most likely to show to your clients first, assuming they were all approximately equal in features and value?
For the seller, the practical result is that you get far less showings when the commission is discounted.
Another thing to consider: one of the main reasons that you hire an agent is because of his or her's superior negotiating skills.
Why would you place your faith in someone who can’t even negotiate a good commission for him or herself?
Big Mistake - It doesn’t make any difference who I choose. Realtors are all the same.
Sorry, this is just dead wrong. All realtors are not the same. In fact, there are huge differences in training, experience and market savvy between realtors. Some realtors pass the licensing exam and thereafter do the bare minimum to keep their license in good standing. Others are on a continuous journey of self-improvement and professional development.
Just as in any other profession, there is a strong correlation between qualifications and performance.
Some realtors “just get by’ in their training and it shows in their results. Others are highly proactive in their attitudes towards excellence in customer service, marketing and other key indices of a top performing professional.
Big Mistake - The Realtor will hold an open house every week.
The truth is that very few homes ever get sold as a direct result of someone visiting that house during an open house.
Many open house visitors are simply “looky loos” or neighbours just wanting to check out your house. They are not serious potential buyers of your home.
With the increasing concern that many owners have (shared by many realtors) about security concerns resulting from open houses, many realtors are re-thinking their previously held views on the desirability and overall effectiveness of the open house concept.
Many realtors hold open houses for 2 primary reasons:
1. The seller thinks that it is an effective way to sell their house and the realtor does nothing to discourage that belief.
2. Open houses are a way for realtors to capture buyer leads in order to sell them a house that more closely suits their needs.
Good realtors know better than to focus a significant part of their efforts on open houses.
In particular, they know that a far more effective means of marketing a house is to market the house to other realtors, not to the general public.
By getting other agents aware of and interested in your home, a listing agent multiplies his or her efforts at making your home visible to a far larger number of potential buyers.
Big Mistake - My friend (family member) is a realtor.
Just as you would not hire a surgeon, a dentist, an accountant just because you know them or because they happen to be related to you, so it should be with hiring a realtor. A true professional will understand that you are engaging in an important business decision and that it just makes sense to perform your due diligence before committing to one course of action or another.
If a problem or disagreement between you and the realtor occurs during the transaction, do you want to risk jeopardizing the personal relationship you have over a business issue? Would the relationship withstand such pressure? Would you feel confident that you are being properly represented if such a situation develops?
Big Mistake - Hiring the first realtor you speak to.
Many realtors have polished presentations that are designed to move you unconsciously into listing your home with them. As with most things, better decisions generally result when you make a choice between several competing alternatives.
It is a good idea to interview several agents before committing to one. Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of dealing with one over the others. This is a big decision and it pays big dividends to be careful along the way, beginning with who you choose to represent you.
Big Mistake - Choosing a Realtor on gut instinct and not checking references
Making a snap judgment can lead to problems down the road. You want to know your realtor is competent and that he or she has the skills necessary to do the best job possible for you. Choosing a realtor based on the time in business may be a mistake. Sometimes older realtors become jaded and, for lack of a better word, lazy.
It may be that a rookie more than makes up in enthusiasm what he or she may lack in practical experience. Check out references. Ask some tough questions.
This is a big deal and you are entitled to get the best representation you can.
Big Mistake - Choosing a realtor who does not take advantage of technology.
Things have changed dramatically in the real estate industry over the last few years. Technology has dramatically changed the way that realtors do business.
The internet, email, communication devices such as smart phones, customized, on demand search functionality, 24/7/365 access to information have turned the real estate business on its head.
Make sure that the realtor you choose is comfortable with the new wave and that it will be used to your benefit.
Big Mistake - Choosing a Realtor who does not have a clearly defined marketing and advertising program.
n today’s super competitive environment, it will not be possible to achieve outstanding results without a thorough and comprehensive marketing and advertising strategy. Pounding a sign in the front yard and putting an ad in the newspaper simply will not cut it any more.
Purchasers are much more sophisticated than they were only a few years ago and they demand high quality information that is easily accessible on their terms and schedules.
Marketing and advertising must be done across a variety of media platforms in order to give your home the greatest exposure in the marketplace.
