One of the most misconceptions in the Real Estate world is that all agents are the same.
To the outsider that may appear to be the case but because the differences are only recognisable when one digs deeper. In order to understand what it is that separates the very best from the average, who to a homeowner could cost them thousands in lost value if sold and marketed incorrectly.
“Don’t choose them because they are nice, but rather can they get you’re the best possible price because that what matter. Profit from their experience.”
No, all agents are not the same. Sure, it is dead easy to get your real estate licence or registration and it appears dead easy to sell property but to get a premium price for a client is a skill set that takes many years of training, scripts and dialogue practice and innate mongrel attitude to deliver the very best result and extract the most out of buyers.
Myth 1: Marketing is not important – my house will still sell with no or low marketing.
One of the basic things that most average agents do is under market a property. They try to save their clients money buy taking the basic marketing package offered by an agent, even going so far as to budget on photography, floor plans and other media tools to portray the property in the best possible light. This may “save: a few thousand dollars but can and usually does cost you many more thousand and sometimes tens of thousands as the property is not seen by the whole gamut of buyers and a low or weak competitive environment is created that results in low offers that invariably get pushed on to the vendor who begrudgingly must accept. When you cast a bigger net with the best marketing package money can buy you catch many , many more fish (buyers) which leads to more competition and in best case scenarios multiple offers which historically have driven prices up to unheard of prices and street records.
Myth 2; The cheapest agent is the best.
This always a contentious issue with sellers feeling that the lowest fee is the all important factor in deciding whether to go with one agent or the other. In the absence of any differentiation between agents this is a fair reason to shop on price. However if one agent can achieve a better sales price than the other and also have a higher fee the difference could be thousands in extra profit. An example would be saying one agent at 2.2% fee got you $810,000 and another agent got you $830,000 – the net result is you would receive $792,180 from the cheaper agent and $809,250 from the better more expensive agent. So overall you would be better off at 2.5%! How to know if your agent is getting premium prices, scour the sold section of the real estate portals and get the facts from them as to how much above the average a particular agent achieves for similar properties.
Myth 3 : Agents get paid to sell a property
Partially true but great agents get paid for superior marketing and negotiation. Most houses sell themselves as long as the presentation and the price and of course location appeals to the purchaser. The role of the good agent is to negotiate the highest possible price for you, their client. The agent works for the seller and is entrusted to achieve the very best for their clients. Negotiation is a very important skill and takes time to achieve proficiency in it and usually newer agents typically don’t have that skill well-tuned but there are exceptions. A track record of sales volumes (easily researched on the major real estate website will indicate the skill set of an agent who has been able to negotiate hundreds of sales as opposed to an agent who has sold 2 to 3 in a year!
Myth 4; All agents work the same.
Great agents have a process, average agents whack on internet (small ad) and hope for the best. Selling a property comes with a host of processes to ensure that the best buyers are found, and the premium price is achieved. Any agent you interview should show you a strategic step by step plan on how they are going to market and eventually sell your property.
From the initial meeting right to the day that the key is handed over should be systemised and followed so that both sellers are buyers have a clear picture of the process. Great agents have a system for the launch of a new property , from database management to initial inspections and open homes. All these small details make what from the outside seem easy, make Real Estate a very challenging but rewarding profession. Its not easy as we see about a 90% attrition rate with new agents who find the multitude of small things, they have to deal with on a daily basis just too overwhelming and its hard. Agents are notorious for not returning calls and this could be because they are overwhelmed by the number of calls, they get in a day, which for great agents has been know to go to over a 100! Great agents have a process of dealing with this and return all calls promptly.
In conclusion these are just some of the myths I have touched on so that you as a potential seller can go in with your eyes wide open and ask the right questions of the agent you are interviewing for the job of selling your home. Don’t choose them because they are nice, but rather can they get you’re the best possible price because that what matter. Profit from their experience.
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