How to Choose a Realtor to Represent Your Listing?
You’ve been living in your home for a while, day in, day out; month after month, year after year. You decide to list your home on the market for sale. Perhaps you need more space for your growing family, perhaps you are retiring and looking to resize your home, perhaps you’re simply looking for a change. How should you choose a professional realtor who can best represent your property to net you the most in your pocket?
There are 3 areas I would focus on when looking for a strong listing agent.
1) Marketing — In order to generate the highest amount of interested buyers, subsequently leading to the highest offer, it all comes down to marketing. Your agent needs to have a far-reaching marketing program in place to ensure that your listing gets maximum exposure. Not only does the agent need to allocate the proper marketing budgets to advertise effectively; your agent also needs to be in tune with the targeted demographic. For your listing to reach those potential buyers, your listing needs to be easily found through different marketing channels: does your agent have a presence on the most popular online real estate platforms today: Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com? Do they advertise on local or perhaps even national real estate magazines? What strategy do they put in place in order to generate traffic and showings visiting your open house?
Your agent needs to have a far-reaching marketing program in place to ensure that your listing gets maximum exposure.
2) Pricing strategy — Pricing strategy goes hand-in-hand with the marketing plan, because once you capture interest, you need additional tools to secure buyers into a deal. Having the right pricing strategy comes down to the agents having an intimate understanding of your neighborhood, and the local markets. At what price does it “set the tone” so that you can have the highest net, while not turning off the majority of people who come across the advertisement? In order to do so, the agent needs to understand what your home uniquely offers, and the agent needs to identify the elements that appeals to the broader market.
At what price does it “set the tone” so that you can have the highest net, while not turning off the majority of people who come across the advertisement?
3) Negotiation prowess — Negotiation has sometimes been misconstrued as a stubborn communication strategy for telling the opposing party “no”. The truth is far from it. The art of negotiations comes down to identifying what the win-win solution is for all involved parties. Having creative solutions should be in your agent’s repertoire. If I am your listing agent, my goal is to net you the highest amount in your pocket. It is also not hard to guess that the buyer is looking to purchase a beautiful home at the biggest discount. My job then becomes: what other ways can we appeal to buyers in order for everyone to achieve their wishes? Understand that price is only one of many levers. If both sellers and buyers are represented by good negotiators, the transaction will go smoother, not more difficult.
The art of negotiations comes down to identifying what the win-win solution is for all involved parties.
There you have it! Marketing, pricing strategy, and negotiation prowess. These 3 factors should result in a very favorable outcome for your listing.
About the Author
Danny Lau has set up several successful small businesses, he is a top real estate sales professional, and he shares real estate investment advices through his YouTube Channel.
Disclaimer
This article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. You should consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.
