7 Questions to Ask When Interviewing Your Realtor®
- How would you market my home?
The answer to this question will give you two important pieces of
information: How creative their marketing plan is and what their level
of resources is. Be concerned if they don’t have a broad spectrum of
marketing available. This shows either a lack of ingenuity or a lack of
resources, or both, which would negatively affect the sale of your
home.
"We outspend most Realtors in the area in our print and internet marketing programs. Our innovative internet and exclusive marketing systems advertise not only to the local market, but focus on the Calgary, Lower Mainland and International markets, giving you the best exposure possible to help sell your home to the right buyer at the highest realistic price. We believe our online marketing program is second to none!" - How successful are you?
Most sales people are in sales because they are good at talking things
up. A Realtor® should be able to sell you on their track record and
have that information at their fingertips – how many houses they’ve sold
in the past year, the ranking of their company, etc. Why should you
care about these statistics? Because a successful agent will be more
likely to be successful in selling your home. They have the experience,
the reputation, and the resources to do a great job for you.
"Not only is our Team in the top 100 in Western Canada within the RE/MAX organization for the past 12 years, but we are also consistently ranked in the top 1% of all Realtors in the entire North Okanagan." - What would you recommend I do to facilitate the sale of my home?
This one’s an acid test. Every home can use improvement. You want a
real estate agent that will be blunt and honest with you, but be able to
do so without being offensive. If you get an “I’m sure it will sell
just fine as it is now,” answer, you should be concerned about the
agent’s honesty or their judgment. When you do get answers from the
agents you’re interviewing, make sure to take notes. You’ve just begun
your “To Do” list.
"Our team won't advertise a home before we merchandise it first. It's a very important aspect of the marketing process." - Do you have former clients who could recommend you?
This is an important step. Speaking to former clients of each agent or
reading testimonials will give you a feeling for how effective and how
easy they are to work with. Consider carefully before your hire an
agent with little/no experience. While they may be enthusiastic and
motivated, real estate sales are like anything else – experience is
valuable. In today’s complicated real estate market, you don’t want
your nephew who just passed his test to be making the decisions that
will affect your financial future. You want someone who can effectively
market and sell your home.
"Absolutely! Please refer to our testimonials page for a full overview of our happy clients!" - Can I get out of our listing if I decide we’re not a good fit?
You need to be able to get out of a contract that’s not serving you.
There is no penalty for the real estate agent if they don’t do a good
job on selling your home. But it will cost you time and money. The
agent should be willing to release you from the contract without penalty
if the arrangement isn’t working for you.
"Our Team has an unconditional cancellation guarantee if you are not satisfied with our service." - How experienced are you in the local market? This
is an important aspect for the sale of a local home. Its what your
Realtor® knows and who your Realtor® knows that can make the difference
in your home sale.
"Our team has over 80 years of combined real estate experience. You can count on us to know the market!" - Why should I choose you, over any other Realtor? Isn't this the main question - why? Make sure to get a concrete answer based on facts - not a bunch of fluff.
"Our marketing, results and happy clients speak for themselves."