Interviewing a Realtor.

Since more than 87% of real estate agents fail within two to five years in the industry, it’s incredible important that you, as a Seller, interview real estate agents in your area, to find those 13% who have the experience you need to have a successful transaction. And, 90% of transactions are completed by the top 10% of real estate agents.

Here’s some quick questions for you to ask your real estate agent. And, if for any reason, the real estate agent avoids the questions or is not straight forward with you, you may consider interviewing another agent to compare your options.

Unfortunately, more than 70% of Sellers don’t interview multiple agents or mistakenly goes with an off-market offer from a Wall-Street iBuyer, which causes them to hire an agent who is not customer obsessed, or who doesn’t have the experience needed to create that 5-star experience.

Interview Questions to Ask Your Realtor.

Question 1:

How many sales have you made (not your brokerage or other members of the team) in the last 12 months?

Selling a home is financial surgery, you want an experienced surgeon on your largest investment. You don't want a hobbyist, friend, family member, or neighbor who just happens to have their license.

Question 2:

What’s your average sale to list price ratio?

This is an estimator of how well the agent negotiates and prices homes according to the market. An agent with a low sale to list price ratio is someone who consistently prices homes improperly which means sellers net less due to the listing getting “stale”. Essentially, this is a measurement of pricing skill, truthfulness of an agent with seller clients, and negotiation skills. If the agent doesn’t have this number immediately available, either they don’t care about their results or don’t track their results, both of which are bad for you.

Question 3:

What’s your average days on market?

This is a measurement of pricing and marketing. If an agent is consistently selling faster, it’s likely they have a larger buyer pool and more relationships with other agents who have buyers. They also have a strong ability to market the home and create excitement around the property to generate showings and offers.

Question 4:

Where can I see verified reviews and sales?

You should instantly Google the exact name of your agent. Make sure they have at a minimum a Google business profile and have a strong track record of recent reviews and sales. If your agent doesn’t have reviews or sales, then it’s possible they don’t care about serving you at a high level, or they’re not marketing online, which is where 97% of buyers are. We are in the information age. If they’re not marketing themselves online, they’re probably not marketing your listing either. This is bad for you. Consider moving on.

Question 5 (if on a team):

Can I talk speak with your team leader directly? And, how long have you been on the team?

There’s many pros and cons of hiring a big real estate team versus a solo, seasoned professional. One con is that many times the team leader is not available to assist you through the transaction. Yet the team leader is the person with the most connections and the highest level of skill. Make sure that you have a connection with the leader in charge and ask the team member if you can have the team leader involved directly. To make sure you don’t get stuck with a new team member who they are trying out on you, ask them how long they’ve been on the team. Generally, if they’ve been on a team for more than a year, you should be good to go and will likely have a good experience.

If you’re interested in selling your home in Jacksonville, Florida, simply reach out to jon@movewithmomentum.com. Jon can get you a Seller Package that will give you all the next steps in the selling process. Then he’ll work with you directly to find the specialist agent who serves your specific location and property type.