5 Questions You Need to Ask your Realtor

Choosing a real estate agent or realtor can be a daunting process. Knowing that you can make your own decisions to sell your home sounds a bit more complex. It sounds very simple to find a realtor to help you choose the place you are going to live. The realtor might seem friendly enough, but there is no need to rush. Ask yourself if they will be a good fit to work with you. According to the data from National Association of Realtors, most sellers have just two simple questions from their realtors: How much they will get for the property and what will be the commission? But some sellers ask extra questions and most of the sellers hire the first realtor they meet. When selling or buying house, most people hire the realtor based on their gut feeling or appearance. But selling your home is a big and important transaction and sellers must dig deeper to find out if the realtor is better as compared to others. There are 5 question you need to ask your realtor.

1.     What is your experience?

It is very important to ask realtor about their job experience as selling or buying a home is the most expensive transaction. In Virginia, when choosing a realtor a seller must look for the agents with enough sales under their belts and are able to securely handle transactions from listing to closing. According to Virginia Law (18 VAC 135-20-30) the realtor must have a good reputation for their honesty in dealing and must be capable to transact the business of real estate agent in a manner to safeguard the public interests. The realtor shall have been vigorously engaged as defined in 18 VAC 135-20-10 as a real estate salesperson for a period of 36 of the 48 months.

2.     Your plan to market the listing?

If you are not planning to market your home, it won’t sell.  If you don’t ask your realtor this question that how the agent plans to market your home, you are not doing your due diligence. It is very important to market your home to greatest number of prospective buyers. It is important to find out your realtors viewpoint for market listings and ask what the agent will do after taking the listing.

3.     How will you communicate with me?

It is important to choose the communication medium as there must be an understanding upfront and the agent must approach the sale of your home as a team member. Verify how your realtor has talked with you so far. If your agent hasn’t appreciated your preferences, or failed to follow up or has been careless with messages and emails, there is no reason for the realtor to shape up after he/she is employed.

4.     Do you work with both sides of transaction?

It is normal for some agents to work on either on a buyer side or a seller side, but not both. It is important to ask whether your realtor represent both side.

5.     What are your stats?

This is the most important question so far. You need to check your realtor’s stats and the first stat to check is list-to-price ratio which is final sales divided by recent listing price. If the percentage is over 100 it means that the realtor sell homes for more than listing price. Understanding this fraction helps sellers decide if the agent is experienced and is not expanding the price just to gain the listing.