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How Not To Choose An Agent
November 2007
How do you choose a good agent? Most people know the do’s: interview a few, make sure they are licensed, ask for references, ask for a written plan of action, etc. But how about some don’ts? Let’s look at those now. It’s generally a bad idea to choose an agent solely based on:
Linda Lane-White “Singing” Realtor ® CA Lic #01091347 Notary Public Altadena Resident
Friendship
I n T u ne W it h Yo u r N e e d s
445 S. Fair Oaks Avenue Pasadena, CA 91105 Phone: 626-786-1231 Fax: 626-296-1979
Inside this issue: How Not To Choose Agent
1
Turkey Talk
2
Recipe of the Month
2
Active Adults Corner
2
Ceedub Construction
2
A Better Turkey
3
Recent Area Sales
3
Ask An Expert
3
November In Dena Land
4
Five Acres
4
I always thought that hiring someone you couldn’t fire was a bad idea. Think about it; if you were unhappy about the service you were receiving from a Realtor friend or family member, would you feel comfortable firing them and getting another agent? What would that do for your relationship? I understand that people want to give their friends and relatives their business, but your personal relationship with someone shouldn’t be the sole reason to hire that person. You must be confident that the agent you hire will be able to do the job to your satisfaction. Therefore, you should evaluate all agents the same way, regardless of whether you already know them or not. Have your friend or relative compete for your listing like anyone else. Have them give you a presentation and discuss the plan of action for selling your home. If they are real professionals, they will understand and accept this. I for one do not EXPECT my friends to use me, but,
I DO expect them to give bang for my buck.” What’s me an opportunity to pre- the difference? The differsent my marketing plan in ence is not how much you selling their home. pay your agent but what you get for your money. You can Suggested Price Here’s a simple way for hire someone who will offer an agent to sign up a lot of you a heavy discount, but sellers: tell people what make little effort to actually they want to hear. Sellers find you a buyer. Or handle like to hear that their problems that pop up. Or homes are worth a lot of return your calls. On the money, so some misguided other hand, you can hire agents will promise a big someone who charges a litselling price even though tle more than you’d like to they know the home isn’t pay, but will bend over worth it. A seller that takes backwards for you. And anthis bait will see his home swer your calls after hours languish on the market for when needed. And get you a many months until it finally better price due to having better negotiating skills. The old, overused, adage says “You get what you pay for.” It still holds true.
Presentation
sells at a lower price than it could have. You don’t want to be that seller. Any agents that offer you an estimate of your home’s value should be asked to backup their recommendation with market data. If you think it’s too low, feel free to have a spirited discussion with the agent. But if it’s suspiciously high, or if the agent readily agrees with whatever you say, be cautious.
Commission “I want to pay as little in commission as possible,” some sellers will say. Now, I would recommend a somewhat different philosophy: “I want get the biggest
Good agents should be able to give you a good presentation of their services. They will likely discuss how long they’ve been in the business, what track record they have, what marketing methods they use, and what plan of action they have in mind for selling your house. This is all good. But you still have to “click” with that person. Is this agent carefully listening to your questions? Answering your concerns? Is he or she genuinely interested in working with you? Will you like working with this person? Yes, listen to the presentation and ask a lot of questions. But use your intuition too. Your gut feeling can tell you a lot about someone, sometimes even more than graphs and charts.