How to Find the Right Listing Agent
It’s no secret that selling your home is a huge undertaking. As such, finding the right listing agent is crucial to ensuring a smooth process, and, equally if not more importantly, to getting the best deal.
To help make the process a bit easier for you, we’re breaking down exactly what to look for in an agent.
Let’s dive in!
Where to Look for a Listing Agent
Before choosing the right agent, you first have to know where to look!
According to a 2021 NAR Report (the latest year available), 68% of sellers found their agent through a referral from a friend, neighbor, or relative or used an agent they worked with previously, making this a perfectly logical route!
If you have no luck finding an agent within your network, consider attending local open houses to see if you connect with an agent there. Conducting a thorough online search is another valid means of finding an agent.
What to Look for in a Listing Agent
When you find an agent you think might be right for you, there’s a few things you’ll want to make sure to look for before making your final decision.
Experience
In some professions, experience may not necessarily matter. However, in real estate, this is not the case at all. Not only will you want to find an agent with more than a few years under their belt, you’ll also want an agent with listing experience. Furthermore, you’ll want an agent with specific experience with selling your type of home, whether that be a single family home, condo, or apartment
Some good questions to ask:
- How long have you been licensed?
- How many transactions have you completed in the area within the last year?
- What was the total sales volume of those transactions?
- Do you have experience selling (insert your home type here)?
Certifications/Awards
Along with experience comes relevant certifications and awards.
Of course, you’ll need an agent with a real estate license; that’s a given, but you’ll also want to look for an agent with any relevant awards, recognitions, or rankings from trusted sources. This will let you know that you’re not only dealing with an experienced agent but a good one as well.
Local Market Knowledge
Local market knowledge is another hugely important factor in choosing the right agent. A good listing agent will intimately understand local market trends, hurdles you may encounter with local buyers, and pricing of comparable homes in the area so as to best set the price of your home.
Marketing Capabilities
Ok, this point is absolutely not to be overlooked. The quality and extent of the marketing provided by an agent and their brokerage can make or break the sale of your home.
Here’s a few things you should ask a potential agent to provide before making your decision:
- Examples of photography, videography, and write-ups from recent listings
- Along with this, examples of homes they’ve staged
- How and to what extent they intend to market the sale of your home (both digitally and non-digitally)
- How often they plan to hold open houses and listings presentations for buyers’ agents
Negotiation Skills
Once offers are on the table, a good agent will be skilled in reviewing offers and negotiating price from there, ensuring you get the best deal possible. Along with this comes good communication with buyers’ agents. Listing agents should be more than prepared to work alongside buyers agents to move the process along smoothly and quickly.
Communication Methods & Availability
Speaking of communication, you’ll want to ask potential agents about their communication methods and ensure that they align with your own. A good agent, however, will be willing to communicate in the manner you prefer, whether that be text, call, email, or any combination of the three.
As far as availability, frankly, real estate is a round-the-clock profession, as such, you’ll want to make sure that the agent you choose is available full-time.
Great Reviews
In today’s digital world, you should have no issue in finding reviews on potential agents. A good agent will have great reviews, both in their positivity and number.
You should also ask for the names and numbers of a few past clients the agent has worked with, so that you can learn more about the agent on a personal level.
Commission & Fees
While there’s no standard commission agents take away, it shouldn’t be more than 5-6%, which you’ll pay as the seller. Additionally, you’ll also want to ask about other fees you may encounter. Some common ones include consulting, brokerage, and transaction fees. Knowing the commission and fees charged by different agents and their brokerages can help you in making your decision.
Our Pitch
Ok, you had to see this one coming!
We’ll keep it short by saying Jennifer Young Homes can provide everything above and more. Reach out to us for a free, no strings attached conversation.
