The Typical Agent Interview Experience
Many sellers have a similar experience when interviewing agents. The agent arrives on time, inspects the home, and delivers a polished presentation filled with marketing material, grand tales of past victories, boasts about their network, and promises of ready buyers if the owner signs up.
The Dilemma of Similar Agents
After two or three such interviews, sellers often feel confused and frustrated, thinking, "All these agents look the same! How are we going to select one?" This fundamental question is crucial as it can significantly impact your selling experience and outcome.
Some sellers become resigned to the belief that the only way forward is to find the agent who promises the most money and charges the lowest fee. However, focusing on this can result in simply employing the most dishonest and least skilled agent.
Key Factors to Consider
Fortunately, there is a lot more to selling than to just find out the “numbers”. Having an agent that understands and works towards your specific goals, knows how to find buyers and knows how to negotiate the highest price are a few of the things you should be on the lookout for.
Understanding Your Goals
Do you need to know that your agent understands your goals? Absolutely. The right agent should listen and ask questions to fully grasp your objectives. Your goal can impact the type of buyer you should be targeting, the terms you are looking for and, most importantly, if you should even be selling at all! Sometimes the best thing to do is to stay exactly where you are!
Generating Genuine Interest
Do you need to know if the agent can manage the campaign to generate genuine interest from the right buyers? Definitely. Your agent should demonstrate their ability to engage buyers effectively. They should also be able to demonstrate how each item on the marketing schedule helps find those buyers.
Negotiating the Best Price
Do you need to know how your agent intends to negotiate the highest possible price? Of course! There is a HUGE difference in how agents approach this and they should have a clear plan for achieving the best outcome.
What About the Price?
A decision is only as good as the facts it’s based upon. Your agent should be able to justify, in several ways, how they came to a decision on their estimate of sale price. Just be careful not to base your price on only ONE data point. More on that here.
Some Questions You Can Ask
-How did you come to your opinion of price?
-Have you sold homes like mine before?
-Where did the enquiries/buyers of that home come from? Show me.
-Are Open Homes or Private Inspections better? Why?
-How does your negotiation method obtain the buyer’s highest price?
-If you don’t sell my property what are the costs to me? Including advertising.
-Have you got any phone numbers of previous clients that listed with you but DIDN’T sell that I can contact?
The Importance of Skill-Based Decisions
The golden rule is, avoid making a price-based decision alone, as it could cost you thousands of dollars and months of valuable time. By making a skill-based decision, you’ll get the truth upfront and the best possible result in the shortest time.
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