As a home seller, there are eight key questions you should ask a Realtor before hiring them.
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If you’re selling your home and you’re interviewing a Realtor to represent you, here are eight questions you need to ask them before hiring them:
1. “How much experience do you have?” By “experience,” I mean how many transactions they’ve worked from beginning to end—not how many years they’ve been in the business. I’ve met plenty of agents who brag about being in the business for 30 years but only sell two or three homes a year. That’s not the same as someone who’s relatively new to the business but still sells 90 homes per year.
2. “What do your sales numbers look like?” The key here is not to ask about their list-to-sale price ratio, as that can be skewed in a market like ours where multiple offer situations are common. Rather, you should ask about how many homes they’ve listed and how many of those homes sold.
3. “What specifically are you going to do for me?” Other than putting a sign in your yard and entering your home into the MLS, what else will they do for you? What’s their monthly marketing budget? What does their buyer acquisition plan look like? The answers to these questions are a tell-tale sign of what your agent has in store for you.
“THESE QUESTIONS WILL HELP YOU WHEN YOU INTERVIEW YOUR NEXT REALTOR.”
4. “Do you have references?” It doesn’t hurt to ask about an agent’s previous clients and how they fared working with them.
5. “What is your cancellation guarantee?” Do they even have a cancellation guarantee that allows you to cancel your contract if you want? This is another tell-tale sign of whether an agent is confident in their ability to get your home sold and put their money where their mouth is.
6. “How much do you charge?” This is very important for obvious reasons.
7. “Are you part of a team or are you an individual agent?” Some sellers prefer to work with the same person from the beginning of the transaction all the way to the end, while others just want to work with the best person for each situation. This question will help you understand what will happen during the process so you can set your expectations accordingly.
8. “How did you arrive at the suggested listed price?” An agent will suggest a list price for your home, and they should have an explanation as to how they came up with that price.
If you have any more questions about what to ask an agent before hiring them or you have any other real estate needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.
