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Questions to Ask When Choosing a REALTOR®
- How long have you been in residential real estate sales? Is it
your full-time job? (While experience is no guarantee of skill, real
estate, like many other professions, is mostly learned on the job.)
- What
designations do you hold? (Designations, such as GRI and CRS® , which
require that real estate professionals take additional, specialized real
estate training, are held by only about one-quarter of real estate
practitioners.)
- How many homes did you and your company sell
last year?
- How many days did it take you to sell the average
home? How did that compare to the overall market?
- How close to
the initial asking prices of the homes you sold were the final sale
prices?
- What types of specific marketing systems and approaches
will you use to sell my home? (Look for someone who has aggressive,
innovative approaches, not just someone who’s going to put a sign in the
yard and hope for the best.)
- Will you represent me
exclusively, or will you represent both the buyer and the seller in the
transaction? (While it’s usually legal to represent both parties in a
transaction, it’s important to understand where the practitioner’s
obligations lie. A good practitioner will explain the agency
relationship to you and describe the rights of each party. It’s also
possible to insist that the practitioner represent you exclusively.)
- Can
you recommend service providers who can assist me in obtaining a
mortgage, making repairs on my home, and other things I need done? (Keep
in mind here that real estate professionals should generally recommend
more than one provider and should tell you if they receive any
compensation from any provider.)
- What type of support and
supervision does your brokerage office provide to you? (Having
resources, such as in-house support staff, access to a real estate
attorney, or assistance with technology, can help a real estate
professional sell your home.)
- What’s your business philosophy?
(While there’s no right answer to this question, the response will help
you assess what’s important to the real estate practitioner—fast sales,
service, etc.—and determine how closely the practitioner’s goals and
business emphasis mesh with your own.)
- How will you keep me
informed about the progress of my transaction? How frequently? Using
what media? (Again, this is not a question with a correct answer, but
that one reflects your desires. Do you want updates twice a week or
don’t want to be bothered unless there’s a hot prospect? Do you prefer
phone, e-mail, or a personal visit?)
- Could you please give me
the names and phone numbers of your three most recent clients?
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