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Finding the Right Agent

The Right Agent can Mean Fortune or Failure

Choosing the right agent to sell your home is critical. In this market you do not want to blindly hire your brother’s girlfriend’s cousin as a family favor. You can still interview them but compare them to other agents out there. This is not the time to just choose anyone. You need the best representation possible. We recommend interviewing 3 to 5 agents for listing your property. Yes, we know you might be thinking that you want to sell your home yourself. Though we do not recommend it in this market we will talk more about that option later on.


There are a series of steps in analyzing real estate agents.

  1. Find the right agents to interview
  2. Conduct an effective listing interview
  3. Score each agent and choose the best using the tools provided

Finding top agents to interview

First let’s understand how to find the best agent out there.

  1. Ask around for legitimate referrals
  2. Check web sites such as www.Realtor.com
  3. Go to local open house
  4. Go to local real estate offices

OR, utilize our Customer Support to help you locate the top agents in your area.

Referrals from friends or family can be a very powerful tool but always take them with a grain of salt. Ultimately you need to make the final decision no matter how someone rants and raves about their agent. Maybe their home sold in a few days due to a hot market. Sometimes personality compatibility will differ between you and the agent so be sure to interview, interview, interview! Utilizing our customer support, we will provide you with all of the resources free of charge to help you find the prefect agent.

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The Listing Interview

When interviewing various agents there are several questions you should ask to get a good understanding of what they can do for you.

  1. How long have you been in the business?
  2. What makes you stand out from the rest?
  3. Can you provide references?
  4. How do you plan to market my home? (i.e. Online? Direct mailing campaign? Advertisements?)
  5. Do you have any creative ways to sell my home?
  6. How much do you charge?
  7. What is your list-price to sell-price ratio?
  8. Please describe your negotiation style?
  9. Are you familiar with this area? Please describe it to me from your perspective.
  10. Can you provide all of the documents needed for a successful transaction (i.e. a copy of everything I will need to sign)?
  11. What haven’t I asked you that you would like to share?

Before you ask these questions and have the interview, write down what you would like to hear from them in order to compare it to the agents response.

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Score each agent and choose the best

Contact our information desk for an excel worksheet that will assist you in evaluating the agents after you have interviewed them individually. The Agent Score Card includes hard coded formulas and conditional formatting to give you a total score for each agent. Instructions are as follows:

  • Go through the checklist and rank the agent from 1 to 5 in each category (1= worst and 5 = best)
  • Once all the questions have been answered for each agent, record the overall score next to their name in the Summary of Interviews section

You would want to pick the agent with the highest score unless there is some other reason for being inclined to use one over the other. An example of the Agent Score Card is listed below:

excelExample

By evaluating the agents side by side, you can see which agent will be best suited for the position.

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