Selling a home can be an exciting yet nerve racking time in a homeowner’s life. The biggest decision the homeowner has is to choose a listing agent that will provide their home with maximum exposure and will negotiate on their behalf to ensure the seller gets top dollar for their property.
What To Be Cautious Of…
Unfortunately, many people selling their home choose a listing agent based on the wrong criteria. Examples include picking someone solely because they are a friend, choosing someone who brags about how many listings they have, someone that talks more about themselves than about how they can help you market your property, and picking a Realtor® because they seem to have a lot of listings. Remember, selling your home is about YOU. Choose an agent that makes sure your needs are always the top priority.
When an agent is describing their marketing plan, pay close attention. A good agent spends their time marketing and advertising your property, not themselves. While it is necessary for agents to market themselves, you shouldn’t choose a listing agent based on how many TV commercials or billboards they have. Do those ads help sell your home? No. What is going to help sell your home is the agent aggressively marketing your specific property to as many people as possible, with an emphasis on the demographic that would be a likely buyer for your home.
Many Realtors® declare themselves listing agents and have a primary concern of increasing their number of listings, not selling your home. We call them “list them and leave them” agents. Unfortunately, they only care about getting the listing and leave selling your home to buyers agents that find your property on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
Be wary of agents that offer discounts on commission. While it may sound great to be saving money you want to be sure what level of service you will receive. Think about it this way… If an agent has voluntarily given up part of their commission (their money), how much do you think they will care about your money when they are negotiating for you? In addition, if they are accepting a lower commission, how much time an effort will they spend on marketing? Think about what type of agent you want in your corner. When you choose a listing agent, do you want one who is too weak to believe in their own value, or one who is strong enough to negotiate for what they deserve and the service they provide?
Another thing to be cautious for is an agent that seems to tell you exactly what you want to hear just to get your listing. Wesley & Co. is in the business of telling clients what they need to hear, not just what they want to hear. This is especially true when it comes to pricing. Selling a home is a major transaction that we take seriously and by overpricing a home just to get the listing, we aren’t doing anyone any favors. It is far better to price right from the beginning. Other wise the homeowner and the listing agent will end up arguing about price reductions and why the home hasn’t sold.
What To Look For In A Listing Agent
A good listing agent will listen and understand your unique situation, they will gather as much information as they can about your property and neighborhood and provide advice that has your needs as their primary concern. In fact, sometimes that advice could be that now is not the best time for you to sell your home. Every homeowner’s situation is different and in an evolving market a good agent will be able to come up with some creative ideas that may fit your specific needs. Whether it means doing a delayed closing, extended occupancy, or terms in the contract that allow you time to find your next home.
They will explain how they plan on marketing your home including using photographs and video to ensure your home stands out from the competition. Marketing is extremely important, and you want to make sure that the agent you hire doesn’t use passive marketing. Passive marketing is doing things like holding open houses, sending out flyers, and basically hoping and waiting for a buyer to come. While those tactics can be effective, you also need proactive marketing. This is where an agent spends a lot of time going out to find buyers, rather than waiting for them. Creating demographic specific ads, detailed buyer targeting, getting on the phone every day to promote your property, shooting videos, and holding mega open house events are just a few examples of proactive marketing. You can’t afford to hire an agent that still tries to sell homes like it’s the 90’s. You need to choose a listing agent that is a modern-day marketing expert and knows how homes really get sold today.
In addition, when choose a listing agent, have them specifically explain their 30, 60, and 90-day plan and commit to how often they will communicate with you. The better agents will stay in touch with you every step of the way and provide both good news and bad.
Wesley & Co. uses an extremely aggressive marketing plan that has been proven to be effective. Proper pricing and marketing are two of the most important factors that will determine how fast your home sells and how high the price will be. We take time to learn about any new tools and technology so that we can leverage those for our sellers. We also spend time staying educated on the real estate industry as well as the local and hyperlocal markets.
Don’t just hire anyone to be your listing agent. Hire the most qualified, dedicated, and aggressive agent. To learn more about how we can sell your home, call Wesley & Co. today at 810-623-4603 or email at wesley@previewproperties.com
