After you have made the decision to buy or sell some property, your next move might be to select a Realtor(R) you want to represent you during this transaction.
If you do not know a Realtor or if friends or family cannot recommend one to you, the best place to start is on the internet and input “realtors in (my area) or check in your local newspaper and review the real estate section.
It is strongly recommended you engage the services of a real estate professional who lives and/or works in your area
Here are some suggested questions you may ask when you are interviewing a real estate professional:-
– How long have you been selling real estate?
– Do you attend regular training sessions?
– How many homes have you sold in my area?
– How many completed transactions have you averaged over the last 5 years?
– How long, on average, does it take your listings to sell?
– What is your listings to sales ratio?
– How familiar are you with my area?
– Where is your office located?
– Do you work on your own, or does someone else look after your business if you are not available?
– How much are you prepared to spend on marketing my home, and what form would that marketing take?
– Do you have a sample of your in-house promotional material?
– Do you follow up with the Buyers’ agent after showings, and do you provide that information to your Sellers on a regular basis?
– What type of internet presence do you have, and how many hits does your website get per month?
– Will you zone farm my area?
– Do you have a network of real estate support businesses you work with…lawyers, notaries, mortgage brokers and inspectors etc.?
While this is not a complete list of questions by any means, but you should be able to judge how successful and/or active the real estate professional is and how committed they are to their business, your area and your property by the answers they provide to these questions.
Remember you will be asking this individual, to handle, perhaps one of the biggest transactions of your life, and it is extremely important you hire a real estate professional whom you have confidence in, feel comfortable with and you can trust.
