4 Things to Consider When Choosing a Selling Agent

Selling your home is a major decision that can affect your investments and savings for months to come. If you bought a home as an investment and spent a considerable amount of money on upgrades, you’re surely looking for ways to cash in on both your upgrades and the capital appreciation from the time you bought the property. This is why it’s crucial to choose a selling agent who can make things happen for you and find the right buyer at your price.

There are quite a number of real estate agencies in Australia that can provide with a great amount of help to list and sell your home. You can read the full info here if you’re looking for some of the best real estate agents in your place and if you need to sell fast. Here are some of the things that you should consider when you’re looking to hire a real estate agent: 

1. How Much For Commission Fees

For some homeowners and sellers, one of their most important considerations when choosing a real estate agent is how much money the real estate agent will take for their commission. Real estate agents charge their professional fees in different ways. There are those who charge a straightforward commission called the broker’s fee or broker’s commission from the final sale price. But there are also those who are willing to accept a fixed rate for the services they render. 

You should clear this up from the start with the real estate agents you’re interviewing, so you’ll have an idea how they’re going to charge you. You can ask them whether their fees are still negotiable. Some real estate agents are open to accepting fixed rate fees if you’re selling a luxury home or if you’re a real estate investor with multiple potential transactions.

2. Experience in Local Market  

The first thing you ought to consider when you’re searching for a real estate agent to help you list your home is whether the agents you’ve been interviewing have experience in the local market. Experience here doesn’t mean simply that they’ve had some experience in talking to leads and prospective buyers. You should look for agents who already have some experience in closing sales for their listing clients. This means they can make things happen if you trust them to list and sell your home.

The dilemma here for most sellers is that they’d be able to sell faster and might get a higher price if they get a seasoned real estate agent to sell their home. But that would most likely come at a steep price since veteran real estate agents know their worth. They’ve also developed a wide network of contacts among real estate investors so that’s part of what they offer as their value-added when you hire them. 

On the other hand, if you try your chances with a newbie realtor, they might be more willing to negotiate their fees, but there might be a little bit more uncertainty about the chances of your home getting sold.

Here are some of the things you should look for among the real estate agents you’re interviewing: 

• Have they sold comparable properties? 
• How much over fair market value did they close their best sale ever?
• How fast did they sell a home and how?
• What do they do that they think gives them an advantage over others?
• How will they market your home?

3. What They’re Willing to Do

The other thing you should consider when you’re interviewing prospective real estate agents is the scope of services they’re willing to render for you for the commissions they’ll be receiving when the sale goes through. 

Different real estate agents or agencies offer a variety of services to their leads and prospective clients. Some limit their services to signing up, listing the property, and closing the sale. There are others, though, who offer more extensive services both to their listing and buyer clients.

Here are some of the services that real estate agents and agencies offer to render for their leads and prospective clients:

• Give an initial price after seeing the property
• Suggest what can be done to increase the value before close
• Give prices of latest comparable properties sold within your neighborhood
• Bring professionals to put your home in lights
• List your home in the hottest listing markets
• Have a short list of willing and able real estate investors
• Refer appraiser or engineering inspector when needed
• Help tie loose ends such as loans and liens

4. What Previous Clients Have to Say 

Another important thing you have to consider when you’re interviewing prospective real estate agents is what their previous clients have to say about them. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to feedback, because each sale may have its own unique set of circumstances that affect the outcome. 

But you have to keep in mind that feedback from a previous client is something you should give some weight to. After all, it could’ve been a great experience for them, but what made it otherwise? 

You should also consider that one or two clients who say they wouldn’t hire the same realtor again might not be a fair review of an agent’s overall capability and value. For some though that could be a deal breaker. But maybe you should trust your gut if there’s quite a number of previous clients who say they weren’t that pleased with their selling experience with a real estate agent or agency.

Conclusion 

Real estate agents provide a great amount of service to homeowners looking to list their homes. They can take off a lot of the burden from homeowners because of their marketing skills and network of potential buyers and real estate investors. They’ll also do a lot of work to stage the home and bring interested buyers. But you have to consider some of the things mentioned in this article when you’re going to hire a real estate agent.