When selling your home in Floresville, La Vernia or Poth you do want a local agent who understands Wilson County.
Most of the time, most people show interest in only two agent questions: 1.) How much money can I get for my house? and 2.) How much will your commission be? Very few sellers ask questions beyond these two and usually end up hiring the first agent they come across or on the basis of appearance or gut feeling. But selling a house is way too big a transaction for that. The first conversation with an agent should be treated as a job interview with you, the seller, in the employer’s seat. When you approach it in that way, use these questions below to ask your agent when selling your Floresville home. Also be aware that sites like Zillow, Homelight, Top Agents and Realtor feature only the agents that pay the website to be a featured agent. Those websites do not do independent evaluations of agents, they solicit advertising from the agents to feature them. If an agent does not pay, you probably will not be able to find them on that website. So don’t rely on only one or two websites to form an opinion of who is a prominent agent in that area.
Another good idea is to research an agent’s marketing on the Internet.
- Do they have a separate website for the home for sale?
- Do they post it on social media, etc?
- But look at their pictures, their ad copy, their design. Are the pictures good? Are they sideways? upside down? dark? show rooms in a good light? Have a virtual tour?
- Is the ad copy the same on all their homes such as: This is the one you have been searching for. Gorgeous. Has all the wants on your wish list. You can stop shopping now. This is not a cookie cutter home. This is the one. I promise this has xxxxx. You just found it. OR do you want your house to stand out from the rest with fresh copy that pertains to your house? Highlights your house in the best way?
Make sure the agent you picks feels the same way about your home listing and works for you. They should give you copy or links to their advertising so you can view it for accuracy and also for presentation.
It is not only amazing but common to see bad pictures and copy on the Internet. It makes one wonder if the homeowner has had the chance to review this presentation of their home.
What is your experience?
Agents simply may not be all that forthcoming about their experience and track record, so you have to ask. A home sale (and purchase) is usually the largest, most expensive business transaction any of us will ever be involved in. Your agent, then, absolutely must have the requisite knowledge and experience. You will need an agent with enough experience under her belt to competently handle everything from listing to closing. She will also need
- familiarity with the area, local inventory, and local real estate trends. Probably one of the most important factors is an agent who is experienced in your area.
- Another factor could be that an agent who does lots of business does not have the time to deal with everyone personally. They may or may not have a team or systems in place to keep everyone on track. If you want the personal touch you may not want a big volume agent.
- While everyone has to start somewhere you may not want an inexperienced agent who is not using a mentor. A mentor can guide that inexperienced agent through the tough situations that arise. That is how I learned when I started; I had someone to hold my hand throughout every step of the transaction.
I have dealt with agents in the past who are too busy to answer phone calls and don’t respond that quickly> And there are agents who are inexperienced and haven’t had to deal with tough situations before. Both can be stressful situations. So you want an agent who will be there for YOU when you need them.
Do your work with properties in this price range?
Now, while an agent may have plenty of experience, it may not be the kind of experience you need for your selling situation. So one of the questions to ask your agent when selling your Floresville home should be about price-range knowledge, experience, and expertise. Your agent must be able to see the home you’re selling from the buyer’s perspective – and that, obviously, includes price. This kind of insight makes an agent a far better negotiator.
Do you represent one or both sides of the transaction?
This is one of the questions to ask your agent when selling your Floresville home many people overlook – often to their detriment. Many agents work only on the buying or selling side, but some work on both simultaneously.
Ask this question ahead of time to find out whether your agent could end up on both sides of the deal. Although it won’t necessarily represent a conflict of interests, such a situation could, nevertheless, be less than optimal for you as the seller. At the least, it could make you uncomfortable, never being sure whose interests the agent is really looking out for. At worst, it could result in less than the best deal for you because the agent also wanted commission and fees from the buyer. But forewarned is forearmed, so ask. Ask if the agent’s broker allows their agents to “double side” a transaction.
What is your marketing plan?
No matter how much real estate knowledge and experience an agent has, without a viable marketing plan, they won’t do you much good. A sale takes marketing, so you need to know ahead of time how your agent plans to market your home. When it comes to homes for sale, marketing always drives the sale. Homes for sale in Floresville and in La Vernia and other parts of Wilson county is a smaller market than San Antonio. Some people are not even aware of the benefits of living in this area. How great it is and how convenient. That is the purpose behind Our Towns and other blog posts or advertising mediums such as Facebook, etc. To give people an understanding of our community.
And these days, it usually takes a lot more than sticking a few photos on the traditional listing sites. While MLS is still the most common way for agents to get prospective homes to their buyers, having multiple marketing channels helps. In any survey, Internet traffic is the best way to market. To achieve the necessary visibility for a speedy and profitable sale, your agent should be conversant with other, less-traditional marketing channels, such as Facebook and even Twitter, Instagram or others social media sites. Also, make sure to ask whether the agent has experience with setting up virtual tours for marketing purposes because these are becoming increasingly important for buyers.
Selling your home can be a lengthy, frustrating process involving negotiations and various pitfalls. But with the right agent – one selected using these questions to ask an agent when selling your Floresville home – it can be much smoother.