5 Questions to Ask a Real Estate Agent Who Wants to Sell Your Home from The Novak Team on Vimeo.

5 Questions to Ask a Real Estate Agent Who Wants to Sell Your Home

While you’re trying to clean, declutter, stage, and improve your house to sell for top dollar, don’t forget the most important factor for your selling price—a great real estate agent. Home selling experts know how to drive up demand, create multiple offer situations, and negotiate their way to a net profit you’ll be very happy with.

Not to mention, a great real estate agent will make the whole process a piece of cake.

So how do you separate great listing agents from the average ones? Ask them these five questions, and you’ll know. 

5 Questions for Seller's Agents

1. How many homes did you sell last year?

Half of the game is about knowing what’s going on in the market. An agent who sold 1-2 homes will be out of the loop, especially compared to an agent on a team that sold 50-100 homes last year. Experienced agents have tested methods on dozens of homes and develop a sellers instinct. They know what’s going through the minds of current buyers.

2. What’s your list to sale price ratio?

You’ll want evidence that your agent has created above average returns for your clients. One way to measure this is selling price compared to listing price. If their homes are consistently selling for more than they listed for, you’ve probably got a good agent on your hands. Make sure to ask for case studies, and don’t forget hidden costs paid at closing or negotiated repairs (see our seller case studies here).

3. How will you market my home?

Planning is key. You’ll want to make sure your home is listed on the right day of the week, especially if you’re planning on an open house. Which brings up the question… will they do an open house? Will it be a mega open house or one of those awkward ones where no one’s talking? Here’s what a great open house looks like in our book. Make sure they’ll make your home visible to everyone who’s looking. A great website with built in listings and that’s connected to the MLS is key here.

4. Can you create a bidding war?

Bidding wars are a sellers dream. Imagine you list your home on a Tuesday, with an open house on a Saturday. You tell buyers that you won’t be reviewing offers until Monday at 5PM. That creates excitement and a feeling of scarcity, which really drives demand for your home. You’ll have a lot more power as a seller when you’re sitting on a pile of offers (see what we mean here).

5. What is your value proposition?

Where does the agent go above and beyond? Make them prove their value and justify using them instead of selling it yourself or with a discount broker. 

Looking for a team to sell your Snohomish County home? Get in touch below and ask us these five questions. We’d love to work with you.