“12 Questions You Should Ask
Before Hiring ANY Realtor”
Here Are 12 Powerful and Insightful Questions You Should Ask
A Real Estate Agent BEFORE You Sign Anything!
Dear Consumer,
If you’re in the market to sell your home, OR purchase a home, there’s something
you should know…
All Realtors Are NOT The Same!
Your decision to place your home for sale involves more than simply running an
ad, holding a few open houses, and waiting for the sales proceeds check. And your
decision to buy a home clearly involves more than looking at 2 or 3 homes, making an
offer, and moving in.
Hiring the wrong Realtor can mean the difference between making or losing
money, selling or buying quickly or taking a long time, a trouble-free transaction or a
living nightmare.
Unless you have experience interviewing people, and Realtors in particular, you
won’t always know what questions to ask. Further, you won’t always know what answer
will best suit your needs for buying or selling. So here’s a list of 12 important and
insightful questions you should ask ANY Realtor BEFORE you sign anything…
Question #1: How Long Have You Been Practicing Real Estate?
This question will reveal more than just years practicing. You want to delve
down into the number of transactions, average price range, specialized areas and types of
homes they’ve purchased or sold. You also want to know how productive they’ve been
in each year in practice.
Some agents in business less than 5 years may have more experience than other
agents in business 10 years or more! You want to know how many brokers they’ve
worked for, and what kind of experience they have that will apply directly to your real
estate situation.
Question #2: What Qualifications Do You Have To Sell Real Estate?
This question looks for their overall commitment and dedication to building their
personal skills. If they’re not willing to commit to improving themselves, they may not
commit to your needs and satisfaction either.
First, look for their overall education. Did they go to college? Do they have any
Realtor or professional designations? How often to they invest in improving their skills
and keeping up with technology and other industry trends?
Experience should also carry over to negotiating and financial skills. And don’t
forget the ancillary experience required for Real Estate.
Question #3: Tell Me About Your Personal Real Estate Operation?
This is an open-ended question designed to get your Realtor talking about their
business. You want to know how much they’ve invested into their business as relates to
giving you competent and quality service. For example, do they have an assistant to take
home inquiries when they’re not in the office? Do they have a pager, cellular phone,
email, and other methods of reaching them? Do they have a private office either with the
broker or on their own (a tell-tale sign of a top producing agent)?
Here’s what you’re looking for: The more an agent invests into their own
success, office, and systems, the more they’ll be able to commit to you.
Question #4: Can You Give Me A List Of Client References To Call?
An agent who doesn’t accumulate a list of satisfied references either doesn’t do
much business, or isn’t providing the kind of service or follow-through you need.
References don’t always need to be past clients. Get professional references as well:
Bankers, mortgage lenders, appraisers, attorneys, etc.
Question #5: Do You Have A Formal And Written Marketing Plan For
Selling Homes?
This question applies more to sellers than buyers, but both should ask. Your
agent’s marketing plan needs to be deep – not just holding open houses, entering your
home on MLS, or running classified ads.
The key to selling a home is CONSISTENCY. Your home must be consistently
marketed to those people capable of buying. This cannot be accomplished if an agent
doesn’t have a diversified arsenal of marketing strategies. Look for special ideas,
consistency, and persistence in their marketing plan.
Question #6: What Systems Do You Have For Tracking The Home
Market (buyers)/ or Tracking My Home Listing (sellers) On A Regular
Basis?
This is a very important question. If you’re a buyer, you want to know their
competence in understanding values of certain areas. They also need systems to keep
you continually up to date with opportunities in the market. You want them to have more
than “access to Multiple Listing Service.” How much do they actually preview homes in
your price range or desired area. How much do they talk to neighbors, or participate with
other activities in those areas.
If you’re a seller, you want to price your home correctly, and be regularly updated
with important buyer activity. How many calls did you get on your home this week?
What marketing strategies did you use? How many home visits from other agents did
you have (and what were their comments)? How many people visited your open house?
If an agent does not have specific systems for measuring and reporting these
items, perhaps you should consider someone else.
Question #7: Do You Guarantee Your Performance?
Some agents will give you a blank stare at this question. If they do, you might
want to consider taking your business elsewhere. Why? Because you need to know if
your interests are aligned. Is your agent willing to stake their successful outcome with
yours?
Why shouldn’t your agent also guarantee their performance?
Smart Realtors guarantee their services for 2 reasons: 1) They’re confident they
can perform for you because of their experience, commitment, and work ethic, and 2) It’s
smart marketing for a Realtor to guarantee their services. If you buy a television, it’s
guaranteed. If you buy a car, it’s guaranteed. These days, nearly everyone must offer a
guarantee to help stimulate a sale. agents on the cutting edge of marketing guarantee
their services.
Question #8: Can You Refer Me To A Reputable Mortgage Lender,
Banker, Appraiser, or Real Estate Lawyer?
This question reveals how active the agent is, and how well connected they are
professionally. At some point in the buying or selling process, you will need the services
of a reputable, competent lender, appraiser, title company, etc. If your agent is active,
committed, and diligent with their practice, they’ll be able to give you a few names of
each right on the spot.
Question #9: What Percentage Of Your Business Comes By Referral?
Here’s the “$64 thousand dollar question.” Competent, well-known agents get a
large part of their business from satisfied past clients and members of their sphere of
influence.
If your agent gets less than 25% of new business through referrals, it may be
because 1) The quality of service they offer is not up to standard (hence, people don’t feel
compelled to refer to them after a transaction), 2) They lack the marketing experience or
skills required to market for referrals (which means they may not bring strong skills to
your transaction), or 3) They don’t cultivate contacts in their business (which means they
won’t have many people to speak with about your home).
Clearly, the best way past clients show their gratitude for outstanding service is by
referring their family, friends and associates.
Question #10: How Many People Do You Speak With Each Day About
Real Estate?
This question will tell you how connected an agent is, and how active they’ll
“talk-up” your home to buyers, or finding a home for you by talking to other agents.
Hopefully your agent talks to at least 40 people a day about Real Estate. If not, they may
not be very active.
Question #11: Do You Personally Spend Money Advertising Your
Services Or Homes For Sale?
This question pertains more to listings, but it’s also a question a buyer should ask
to determine an agent’s commitment to invest in the successful outcome of their client.
There are 2 situations to identify here: 1) agents who are very busy, and who produce a
lot of income for their broker will frequently receive advertising allowances from their
broker. If your agent receives allowances, that’s generally a good sign.
2) However, if an agent is not as busy, OR if their broker does not have an ad
allowance for top producers, you want to learn their commitment to “put their money
where their mouth is” when it comes to marketing your home.
You should also ask to see samples of ads they write for homes they list, and for
their own services. Do the ads appeal to you? Would they make you act? If not, don’t
expect their marketing of your home to be any better.
Question 12: Will You Personally Handle Contract Negotiations For
Us?
Surprisingly, many agents simply submit or receive offers, and act as a conduit
between you and the buyer (or seller). That’s not good enough. You want an agent who
has reasonable negotiation skills. You want an agent who’s committed to your interests.
They’ll need to represent you to other agents and buyers/sellers. It’s a good idea
to follow-up the above question by investigating specifically HOW their negotiation
skills saved other clients money, hassles, or help a deal come together.
There Are “Real Estate agents”…