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In case you have ever wondered what you might not want to
do when working with a Real Estate Agent,
here's five things to be avoided.
1. Forcing your agent to sell your home for a higher
price after they've shown you a professional CMA (Comparative
Market Analysis) that says a lower price would be more
reflective of its actual value.
Why? Buyers who want a house in the price range in which
it should have been listed are scared away. Because they
think the house is out of their price range. On the
other side, the expectations of those actually looking in that
price range are not met. Result: The first, and most
important rush of lookers, are lost. You are then forced
to do what is called "Chasing the market", as in down.
In many cases you wind up selling for less than you would have if
the house were priced correctly
in the first place. Especially true in a buyers
market.
2. Hiring an agent without interviewing others
before making a decision.
What's this? Well, all to many people hand over the
responsibility to buy or sell the biggest asset they will ever have
to someone whose greatest accomplishment is being their friend,
family member, social acquaintance, school mate, or worse,
someone who is perceived to be a success just because you've seen a
lot of their signs. If the quality of an agent is not closely
inspected it can cost you thousands.
Not to mention the great importance of checking for an
emotional and intellectual fit. Do yourself a great favor, conduct
interviews, and make agents show you, proof positive, why
they're right for the job.
3. Hiring an agent because they said your home could be
sold for a price that while it might please
you greatly, it's not at all supported by
a current, high quality CMA.
Make your agent show you a quality piece of investigative work
that proves the suggested price range. It is also important to
mention that an agent's intentional "over pricing" of a home
just to obtain the listing is in direct violation of Article
#1 in the NAR (National Association of Realtors) Code of
Ethics. Do some agents do this? Maybe. But just
to be on the safe side, never hire an agent because they gave you
a sales price that "sounds wonderful". Make sure that
price is also supported by well documented mathematical fact.
4. Getting in an agents car to view homes for
sale minus having any idea of what you can afford.
This wastes everyones time and has the strong potential
of causing prospective buyers a lot of heartache if they fall
in love with a home they
can't afford to buy. Get a pre-qualifying letter from a lender
first, and know what you can afford, up front. It should be noted
that many professional agents, unless they have first hand
knowledge of a client's financial ability and actual desire to buy,
will not drive anyone to listings without first knowing this
information.
5. Thinking that if your home is listed in the newspaper
along with a very nice, out-of-date photo of your agent
holding their long deceased pet will be sufficient
advertising, think again.
Most print media is yesterdays news. Almost 80% of
prospective buyers find what they are looking for on the Internet,
and then they tell their agent what they want to see. So,
your agent needs to have their own website, and the ability to
upload your listing to other, popular, real estate sites viewed by
a very high and growing percentage of potential
buyers.
"Dedicated to putting my clients best interests above my
own."
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