Make sure you choose a REALTOR® who will provide top-notch service and meet your unique needs. Here are questions to ask to help you decide on the right one for you.
– How long have you been selling country or horse properties or farms? While experience is no guarantee of skill, real estate, like many other professions, is mostly learned on the job.
– What designations do you hold? Designations, such as GRI and CRS®, which require that agents take additional specialized real estate training, are held only about ¼ of real estate practitioners.
– How many properties and/or farms did you and your real estate brokerage sell last year? By asking this question, you’ll get a good idea of how much experience the agent has.
– How close to the initial asking prices of the properties you sold were the final sales prices? This is one indication of how skilled the REALTOR® is at pricing homes and marketing to suitable buyers. Of course, other factors also may play a hand in it, including an exceptionally hot or cool real estate market.
– What types of specific marketing systems and approaches will you use to sell my property? You don’t want someone who’s going to put a For Sale sign in the yard and hope for the best. Look for someone who has aggressive and innovative approaches, and knows how to market your property competitively and the Internet. Buyers today want information fast, so it’s important that your REALTOR® is responsive.
– Who will you market the property to? Each marketing plan should be geared towards the individual property. Find out if your property will be target marketed and marketed towards the type of buyers that will have a particular interest in your property.
– How knowledgeable are you about horses, farm animals and horse properties? Horses and farm animals have different requirements as to how much property and what type of property is needed for them. Certain properties may not be suitable for a particular type of animal. The knowledge will help to match the right type of buyers to the type of property you have.
– Can you recommend service providers who can help me obtain a mortgage, make home repairs, and help with other things I need done? REALTORS® are wonderful resources in the industry as you seek lenders, home improvement companies, and other home service providers. Agents should generally recommend more than one provider and let you know if they have any special relationship with or receive compensation from any of the providers.
– How will you keep me informed about the progress of my transaction and how frequently? This is not a question with a correct answer, but how you judge the response will reflect your own desires. Do you want updates twice a week or do you prefer not to be bothered unless there’s a hot prospect? Do you prefer phone, e-mail or a personal visit?
– What is your business philosophy? There is no right answer to this question, but the response will help you assess what’s important to the agent and determine how closely the agent’s goals and business emphasis mesh with your own.
Courtesy: Brigita McKelvie, REALTOR®
Pennsylvania License #RS297130
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