How bad can it really be? You likely have no idea what the effects of a bad choice can do to you when you’re trying to sell a home. It can be significant. You would not want to experience it.
Let’s find out what happens when you hire the wrong agent.
Unrealistic Pricing
Pricing your home at the price you want, as a seller, is flawed pricing. Wait, you wonder. If it’s what I want, why is this a bad thing? The Agent is pleasing me and I like that. Often times, sellers will want the highest price for their property, much higher than the valuation. Telling you what you want to hear about your home’s value will not get your home sold if you are expecting a price above market value. The Agent is simply “collecting your listing” only to propose future price reductions when the inflated price is not bringing in Buyers. There is a tried and true method to pricing a home accurately.
Instead, find out the Agent’s list price to sales price ratio. You want a high list price/sales price ratio. Ask to see some homes the Agent sold; what they listed and how much it was sold for and how long did it take to sell? How many homes that they listed, did they sell? Remember, it’s all about selling a home not listing a home! It’s easy for them to provide you with the property address, list price, sales price and how many days the home was on the market prior to selling. Ask the questions.
Poor Presentation
Your Agent does not advice you on how to prepare your home for photos and no recommendations on how to prepare your home for the sale – Unflattering photos or no photos at all, mediocre video or no video at all, shoddy listing descriptions that do not bring out the best in your home.These all sum up a poor presentation for the home you want to sell.
It’s up to your Agent to discover the Unique Selling Points in your home and present it masterfully. It can be as simple as having a packed bed, or removing the clutter from the kitchen tops.
Instead, take a closer look at the photos and videos of the Agent’s current and sold listings. How were they presented? Can you tell the Agent takes pride in the work they present to draw in home Buyers? Were the homes free of clutter? Were the best angles taken? Were there plenty of photos in order to get a good feel of the home and it’s flow? Were there people and pets present in the photos? Were the photos bright and of high quality?
You’ll want high quality, brightly lit photos. Photos that showcase your home in the best light. No clutter.
Scarce Marketing
Your home is not on the Agent’s website or worse yet, the Agent does not even have a website to advertise the home you’re selling. No website. No Blog. Your Agent has no online social media presence across any of the major social media platforms and does not understand the power of the world wide web. They’re ineffective in their digital marketing. They are SEO illiterate. If your Agent is simply listing your home on the Property Portals, and hoping that it sells, you might want to start worrying. This is known as passive marketing. In today’s market with so many homes listed for sale, aggressive marketing on social media is a MUST.
Why are these scarcities a problem for you as a homeowner trying to sell a home? It’s because over 90% of home Buyers search for a home they want to buy over the internet and your Agent better have an online presence if you want your home to get noticed amongst the competition.
Instead, “Google” your Realtor’s name you’re considering hiring and see if the first page is filled with sites with their name. Can you tell that they’re an Agent who sells homes for a living? If you can’t find their Real Estate presence online, they’re not able to compete in today’s age of the internet in order to reach the 90% plus home Buyers who are searching to buy a home. You want them to have a firm grasp of technology in this digital age and understand the power behind SEO. You want your home to be visible to the masses!
Inadequate Knowledge
Knowledge can help to break or seal the deal. Not knowing the local Real Estate market, inadequate Real Estate contract knowledge, not knowing the step by step process of the Real Estate transaction, poor negotiation and communication skills and unaware of the cooling measures and financial calculations, can and will cost you money and perhaps even stop you from selling your home or making the wrong decision.
Instead, you want to make sure your Agent knows the market. Ask them questions on what type of local market we’re experiencing; is it a Seller’s Market or a Buyer’s Market. Ask them to let you know what to anticipate during the selling of your home – what are the steps that you’ll go through. What is the timeline and transition period they have planned for you. Ask them to work out the financial calculations so you can be assured that you are not overstretching your budget on your next purchase. All these are critical. A knowledgeable Agent can answer these with precision.
Your Agent needs to make sure contract terms and dates are not in conflict with one another. Make sure that you do not miss critical timelines of a Real Estate transaction.
Unanswered Communication
Calls, texts, and emails going unanswered is always cause for alarm. It may begin before you even hire the Agent and that’s your first warning sign that you should pay attention to in order to avoid future problems. You’re selling a home and the phone calls start coming in from Buyers, yet your Agent is not contactable or returning phone calls. Imagine this?! You have a question about the sale process, you’ve called and emailed your Agent and have not heard back from them since yesterday when your inquiries began.
Instead, take a closer look at reviews of your Agent and observe how fast your Agent responds to you or if they are responsible to give you a call back. Are they a customer advocate? Valuing customers should be of utmost importance to any Agent you are considering hiring. Valued customers will not have to worry about a lack of communication as their communication skills will be second to none.
In Summary
These 5 pointers will lead to a slow sale, the possibility of your home failing to sell, and worse yet, making the wrong financial decision instead. Thinking of selling or are in the midst of selling and can’t seem to get your unit sold? Give us a call to ensure you are well represented.
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