Finding a Good Agent

Choosing the right real estate professional to sell your home isn’t always easy since most realtors and residential real estate agents claim to do the same thing. From a service offering standpoint, there’s little obvious difference between seller’s agents other than slight variations in commission. As of 2023, the average nationwide commission was 5.46 percent, which is often split evenly between the buyer and seller agents.

Given that most real estate agents purport to offer the same services, and all will claim to offer the best representation in the area, how can you, as a home seller, find the ideal real estate agent for your needs?

Local Market Knowledge

Finding a real estate professional who has extensive experience in your local real estate market isn’t as easy as it may initially seem. How can you gauge the depth and accuracy of an agent’s knowledge if you’re not also a real estate market expert?

Asking a real estate professional about their record and comparing it to the record of other local realtors you’re considering is one of the best ways to measure the reliability of agents.

You may also want to ask pointed questions about current market trends, recent changes in median sale price or time on market and what their thoughts are on current inventory levels. An agent who can give you informed answers and has a good record compared to competing local seller’s agents may be a good choice.

Communication Skills

While knowledge of the real estate market and a firm grasp of concepts like home marketing and staging are important, they’re not always the most challenging aspect of the job.

Being a skilled salesperson and negotiator is key for real estate agents, especially since it requires a certain degree of innate communication ability. While mentoring, training and experience can help hone communication skills, there’s a certain degree of this skill that can’t be taught. Some people are just good communicators and excel at leveraging that ability into enhanced sales results.

When you consult with potential agents to hire, gauge their communication ability. How well do they effectively answer the questions you ask? Did they sell you on their abilities by the end of the meeting or are you still unconvinced? Most people who have dealt with salespeople or marketers in the past can often judge how effective they think an agent will be based on their own interactions.

Marketing Methods and Expertise

Be sure to ask how an agent goes about marketing the properties they list and sell. Real estate is one of the industries that has been profoundly changed by the Internet and the way in which people shop for products and services.

Most homebuyers start their home shopping journey online and decide which houses to visit based on what they discover and see on listing websites. A well-crafted digital strategy that makes your home look like an exceptional purchase opportunity is vital – but it's not all that matters.

Experienced local seller’s agents will have a network of buyer’s agents and real estate partners who can help spread the word about your house to local home shoppers. Word of mouth matters more than many people realize, especially when it’s targeted at relevant parties.

Be sure your agent leverages more than one mode of marketing, and they have the know-how and resources to develop and implement a multi-faceted approach to get the attention of qualified homebuyers.

Professionalism and Integrity

There’s nothing wrong with people who approach real estate as a hobby. Some people who represent home sellers as a side gig have an innate ability and gain significant experience over the years, even when working part-time.

However, there can be a difference in experience and results between retirees or stay-at-home parents who get their real estate license for some part-time work and supplemental income and real estate professionals who represent homebuyers and sellers on a full-time basis.

If you do interview part-time real estate professionals, be sure to ask informed questions and pry into their professional network, marketing approach and recent sales figures.

You may discover that you’re more comfortable working with a real estate agent who has dedicated their professional career to representing home sellers and is intimately familiar with the complex process of home marketing, sale negotiations, maximizing home sale price and the real estate closing process.

Learn About the Proven 72SOLD System

Home sellers have every right to ask for definitive proof or a real estate agent’s past performance and successes. Your home is likely your most valuable asset, and you should do everything you can to maximize the sale price. We are committed to a data and evidence-based approach to selling homes, which is why we have commissioned independent studies and verification of our home selling strategy.

Those studies have found that we get home sellers a median sale price 7.8 percent higher than comparable homes for sale in their local MLS. And we get these offers within eight days of listing with minimal intrusion into your day-to-day life.

No signs in your front yard, no weekend after weekend of open houses and no unqualified buyers knocking on your door for impromptu tours.

Find out why the 72SOLD system allows so many home sellers to maximize their home sale price.