Thinking of selling your home soon? I’m going to teach you how to hire a Realtor. Specifically, the top five things to do before you even pick up the phone and call them. When you’ve decided to sell your home, who you hire is very important. Here are 5 easy tips to help you learn how to hire a Realtor.
Tip #1: Read their reviews online.
There is no shortage of places where people can review real estate agents online. You can go to Zillow, Realtor.com, Google, Facebook, Yelp… all kinds of different platforms. Go read a bunch of their reviews and see what other people had to say about how they did.
Tip #2: Stalk them – on social media, that is!
Are they professional, or are they talking about partying every Friday night? Do they get argumentative with people who have differing opinions? Do they post about controversial subjects like politics, religion, or whether to vaccinate your kids? If they do, are they able to listen to other points of view without getting defensive and confrontational? The things that they post on their personal page may influence your decision on whether or not that’s somebody that you would want to work with professionally.
Tip #3: Go check out their YouTube channel
Watch a few of their videos and read their blog if they have one. I like to put new videos up every week on my YouTube channel. I have a blog where I’m constantly writing articles about general real estate-related tips or things that are going on in our community. But honestly, most agents don’t do that. There are a ton of old-school agents out there who simply rely on the name of their company for their visibility. They don’t share information except about the houses that they’re selling. So do you want somebody that uses social media to their advantage? Do you want somebody that understands the power that social media can bring, that a YouTube channel can bring, that blogging will bring to your property? Or do you want somebody that’s just going to put that house on the MLS and wait for other agents to show it for them? Learning how to hire a Realtor is a lot more than just figuring out who can sell it for the highest dollar amount.
Tip #4: Go look at some of the properties they have for sale
Read the description and see what they write. Do they write about the house in a way that makes you, the reader interested in the house and want to come to see it? Is the information accurate? This is one thing many consumers overlook when they’re figuring out how to hire a Realtor. I’ve seen a lot of listings on the MLS where the zip code is wrong or the area where it’s located is wrong, the HOA fees are wrong. If they can’t be bothered to get the information right when they’re putting it out there for all the world to see they’re probably not very detail-oriented.
Tip #5: How do they advertise the house?
Quite honestly putting it on the MLS is the easiest part of our job. When I enter the property into the MLS it goes out to Zillow and Realtor.com and all of those big websites automatically. I don’t have to do anything extra. If you go to 123MainStreet.com do they have a single property website? It doesn’t have to be the street address, it could be something like PerfectRinconHome.com. It could be FiveAcresinSpringfield.com It should be a specific URL for that property where they’ve got details about your house, they’ve got video, they’ve got a 360 degree virtual tour, they’ve got a video walkthrough, they’ve got information about the schools that the house is assigned to… all of that information that’s not necessarily just available on the MLS and therefore Zillow. So what other things do they do to market that property? If you’re paying them that commission you want to know that they’re spending that money wisely to get your house in front of as many potential buyers as possible. So there you have it – five things to do to learn how to hire a Realtor. You can “interview” your Realtor before you ever even pick up the phone and call them for an actual face-to-face interview. Have you ever tried any of these tips? Did it help you feel like you were more confident in this person’s abilities when it came time to make a decision? Shoot me a message if so. I’d love to hear if it helped. Like the video above? Then be sure to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos every Monday about all things real estate. _____________________________________
About the Author: The above article, How to Hire a Realtor When Selling Your Home, was written by Karin Carr. Karin has helped literally helped more than 200 families buy and sell homes since 2005. If you are in the market to BUY or SELL a home in either the metro Atlanta area OR Savannah, she can be reached via email at [email protected] or by phone at 912-417-9706.
Are you thinking of selling your home? I’m very good at marketing homes to sell quickly, and for more money. If you’re a first-time home buyer then you’ll be in good hands. I’ve helped countless first-time home buyers through the entire process of buying that first home! I have a real passion for helping folks buy and sell homes here in the great state of Georgia and I would love to connect with you!
