In a recent blog post I wrote called Elephants Don’t Bite, which can be read here: Elephants Don’t Bite Part 1 I said there were two questions I ask when someone calls me up unhappy with their Winnipeg Realtor because their home hasn’t sold. I dealt with the first question; what is your realtor doing to market your home? In the above mentioned piece.
Today I will discuss the second question I ask. How did you go about choosing the Realtor you have?
When I ask this question, almost always I get one of four answers. I will examine each answer and how to avoid falling into that trap.
1) They claimed to be the biggest and the best and their flyers and bus benches are everywhere.
This is the most common answer. Many people choose their Realtor based on being inundated with marketing material from that agent. Consumers naturally assume they must be the best. Often their marketing material makes claims that they are the best.
In a previous blog post I wrote an article called “Is Bigger Always Better”. It can be read here: http://simplewinnipegrealestate.com/2011/is-bigger-always-better In this piece I essentially stated that going with the so called biggest agent is not always the best way to go. Do you want to be one of 10, 20 to 30 listings that agent is trying to sell? How much time do you think they are spending on your home if they have that many other homes to sell? Chances are that agent isn’t even working on selling your home as they are spending their time getting more listings. They leave the selling of your home to their assistants.
Look, I get why people will go this route. We are a Wal-Mart generation. It is ingrained in us that bigger is better. We don’t go to Wal-Mart because we expect good service or any service at all. We go because Wal-Mart is big and they spend millions of dollars in marketing telling us this is where we need to go. Many Realtors recognize this and this is how they market themselves.
Here is a good rule of thumb when choosing an agent to sell your home. Does the agent spend the majority of their marketing budget on self promotion? Or, do they spend a good portion of their marketing budget on promoting the homes they have for sale. I believe any decent agent should spend at least an equal amount of money on promoting their listings, that they do telling people they are the latest and greatest. If you don’t see them promoting their listings, stay away from them.
2) We chose the agent who sold us this home.
This is actually a great idea. If you were happy with their service, this is the first person you should interview. I will caution you however. Don’t just list with them automatically. Many agents specialize in helping people buy homes. They are called Buyers Agents. Many of them rarely list homes and don’t have a strong marketing plan in place because they don’t do it enough. Make sure you do your due diligence.
3) A friend or family member referred me to an agent.
Again, I think this is another great starting point. If your friend or family member was happy with an agent that speaks volumes. The one thing I would caution you here about is when did your friend or family member last use that Realtors services. Often we choose the Realtor our parents used 15 years ago. As I mentioned in my last Blog post, many agents still operate their business like its 2001 or even further back. The real estate industry is changing at lightning speed. Many have not kept up. Many refuse to keep up and still think a for sale sign, the MLS, and an open house is sufficient. That may have made them an awesome agent 10, 15, or 20 years ago, but the truth is that the industry has left them behind. They just don’t know it yet. They don’t have any of the mosquitoes in their marketing plan that will net you the most amount of money.
4) The agent suggested the highest price.
This is the biggest mistake a person can make when choosing a Realtor. In a good market or a bad market there is one common truth. Almost everyone has an over inflated idea of what their home is worth. Some by a little and some by a lot. As Realtors we know this going in to meet with you. Some realtors know that all they have to do is tell you what you want to hear as far as the value of your home and they will walk out with the listing.
When sitting down to interview an agent, although a proper market evaluation is important, it should be the least important part of the presentation. I always say, “anyone can do a market evaluation”. When I sit down with prospective clients it can take up to two hours. In that two hours I spend maybe 20 minutes discussing the market evaluation, and the remainder of the time discussing what I will do to market their home. It’s the marketing of the home that in the end will net you the most amount of money.
Two things to remember here. Firstly, no matter what price a Realtor comes up with; make sure they can justify it with recent comparables. They need to be able to show you on paper why they have come up with the price they have come up with. Secondly, stay away from the agents who advertise free market evaluations. If that’s their idea of what gets a home sold, in the end you will be leaving thousands of dollars on the table.
In summary, some of the do’s and don’ts I would suggest when choosing an agent to sell your home are:
Do:
- Interview at least two agents and ideally even three agents before you list your home
- Make sure they have a comprehensive marketing plan that incorporates both the elephants and mosquitoes
- Make sure your agent talks more about what they will do to sell your home than about how great they are
- As Realtors we make a lot of promises. Make sure you get those promises in writing with the right to cancel a listing contract if those promises are not kept
- Make sure the list price chosen is backed up by recent sales that are comparable to your home in your area
Don’t:
- Choose an agent purely based on the fact they spend the most money marketing themselves
- List your home with the agent just because they suggest the highest price
- List your home with someone who wont give a written guarantee with the promise to opt out of the contract if you are not happy
- List your home with the first agent you talk to. Even if they are you wife’s sister’s cousin. This is an important decision. Research!!
- List with a Realtor unless they can assure you that it is them you will be dealing with through the whole process. If they tell you that you will be dealing mostly with their assistants, then make sure you interview their assistants as well.
If you follow these do’s and don’ts, I can almost guarantee you that you won’t be upset about the Winnipeg Realtor you choose.
Have any questions, comments or concerns? Please let me know.
Carl Seier