What Makes a Good Listing Agent?
If you are exploring selling your home, you might be wondering what makes a good agent, how to choose the right agent, or even whether it's worth hiring an agent. This is a major transaction whose outcome will impact your future, so while it might be tempting to save money and use a cheaper agent, the family friend, or even sell it yourself, the money you spend on an agent will pay for itself many times over and save you time and stress in the meantime! Below are the skills you should look for in your agent, along with how they translate into a better outcome and experience for you.
Key Skills to Look for in Your Agent
Less Time on Market
Market Knowledge
A good agent has a deep understanding of current market trends, the local market, and pricing strategies that help them price your home correctly. This is important because pricing too low leaves money on the table, but pricing too high causes the property to sit on the market for a long time as buyers can find better deals. Ask the agent for their opinion of value and what they base it on - make sure they have good reasons and rationale for their valuation!
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Marketing Skills
An agent with good marketing skills will create a beautiful listing by staging it well and taking professional photos. They will magnify the listing's reach by promoting the listing on multiple listing services, social media platforms, and by hosting open houses. ​This broader marketing will reach more potential buyers, and the professional staging and photography will attract their interest. More interested buyers means more offers come quicker, allowing you to sell the home more quickly. Ask potential agents for their marketing plan so you can evaluate the reach and interest they will generate for your home.
Higher Sales Price
Negotiation Skills
Once an offer is made on your home, an agent with good negotiation skills will advocate for you while finding win-win solutions to problems. They know when they need to make a concession, and when they have the leverage to hold their ground. They are patient and manage their emotions well, and when the time is right they know how to close and seal the deal! ​These skills will help you get the best terms possible on the sale, without pushing so hard the deal falls through altogether! Ask your agent to outline their strategies for how they handle multiple offers, counteroffers, and objections to make sure they are prepared to negotiate effectively on your behalf.
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Network and Resources
A good agent will be able to refer you to contractors and other resources you can leverage for all of the different projects and services you need to prepare your home for sale. By leveraging their network, you will be able to quickly and easily improve your home so that it commands the highest price possible on the market, while getting the highest ROI on your improvement budget! Ask your agent which projects they would recommend to maximize your home's value, and for referrals to contractors that can help you complete those projects.
Reliable Closing
Project Management
It can be extremely frustrating and stressful to get an offer and go through the whole process, only to be forced to start over when you're right at the finish line! .A good agent knows the selling process in and out and stays on top of things at all times to make sure the deal closes successfully. They are dedicated to your deal, which is important because each transaction requires keeping many balls in the air, and they will identify deal risks and resolve them proactively. Ask you agent about their track record in closing deals on an accepted offer, and make sure there isn't a history of deals falling through.
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Quality of Offers
A good agent will know how to vet an offer and identify any red flags that could cause headaches later. If the there are gaps in documentation, the financing approval is uncertain, or the offer comes with burdensome contingencies, your agent can get ahead of these issues and make sure the buyer is really in a strong position and likely to close. Ask your agent how they evaluate an offer, the red flags they look for, and how they get ahead of potential financing issues with the buyer.​
Peace of Mind
Communication Skills
A good agent is hyper responsive and communicates clearly - you are never waiting nervously for an answer or wondering if there's something you should be doing that is slipping through the cracks! They give you all the information you need, while serving as a filter for everything you don't. Being informed without being bombarded with information will greatly reduce the stress of the transaction and give you peace of mind. If you're speaking with a potential listing agent today, you likely already have a good indication of their communication style - are they bombarding you with random calls to push you before you're ready? If you reach out, how long is it before you get a response from them? And when you get a response, is it clear and well-prepared?
When choosing an agent to list your home, meet with a few of them before hiring one. You'll want to get to know them, and vet them for the following skills to make sure you are in good hands and get the best results. Generally, a good agent will sell your property faster, for more money, with a more reliable closing process, while saving you a LOT of time and stress.
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If you are still looking for an agent, give us a call. We are dedicated to excellence and take great pride in the outcomes we deliver for our clients! Contact us below, or you can also reach Paul directly by texting 319-325-0668 and he will get back to you immediately to schedule a short call.