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.”