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Staraglimmer
01-19-2009, 12:32 AM
How did you find your real estate agent?

PS: If you know one/are one in my area, PM me:)

KpbS
01-19-2009, 01:04 AM
We went with a guy who sold a neighbor's house quickly. He has had a couple others in our neighborhood as well.

Like everything else it is good to get a recommendation from someone whose opinion you can trust. Maybe ask around in a mom's group?

Staraglimmer
01-19-2009, 01:10 AM
I did this.....but everyone that I was sent to, no longer works in real estate. I figured I'd ask here, because I don't know anyone IRL that could help me. But thanks for trying to help!

JTsMom
01-19-2009, 10:03 AM
Is there one agent that sells most of the homes in your neighborhood? You'd know b/c her/his signs would be the ones that dominate. If so, that would likely be a good person to go with.

If not, you could always interview several- that's what we did when we sold a home in CA. Ask how they'd price your house and why (they should show you comp homes-both currently listed and sold- and the pricing trends), ask about how they'd market your home, their experience, etc.You'll probably get a feeling for them just by asking a few questions.

kristenk
01-19-2009, 10:13 AM
What part of Pittsburgh do you live in? My sister is in Pittsburgh and recently sold/bought there. I can find out who they used if you like.

SnuggleBuggles
01-19-2009, 10:16 AM
Yeah, I would look around at the signs in your neighborhood and narrow it down to a real estate company. After that, contact that company and see who would be available to list the house (maybe you could meet more than one of them to see who you most want to work with?). I'm not always swayed by the signs that say that X is a million dollar seller. Sometimes I would rather go with the person that isn't the big name because they have more time for me. There is one agent in my area that seems to be everywhere. It makes me wonder how good of service she can really be giving to each seller, kwim?

Beth

vonfirmath
01-19-2009, 02:21 PM
Warning, if a specific person has THAT many signs in your neighborhood, it also may be a sign that person has a lot on their plate and will not have enough time for your house.

So it can work both ways.

lovin2shop
01-19-2009, 02:45 PM
I would also be somewhat wary of the agent with all the listings. We found one agent that sold a lot of the homes in our neighborhood was doing so well because he was significantly underpricing them. It moved the houses quickly, but was not good for the value of the neighborhood. I think that our homeowner's association eventually got involved.

maylips
01-19-2009, 02:55 PM
I would also look at names of agents listing other houses in your price range. I know of some great agents who are so good, they get a lot of the wealthier house listings. For that reason, I wouldn't choose them simply because their commission is so much great for those more expensive homes, I wouldn't expect him/her to spend a lot of time/effort on my smaller listing. I mean, if you could make $12,000 for a house or $3,000 for a house, which one are you spending the majority of your time/advertising on?

khm
01-19-2009, 03:00 PM
I'd interview a few, you should get a feeling for them.

Do YOUR homework before hand re: pricing. Assess the competition, be as honest and impersonal as you can be. It's hard, but pretend you are shopping and really really take a look at all the houses similar to yours that are on the market now. Have "buyers' eyes".

Get a grip on where your price should be - do this on your own.

Along the same vein as underpricing, be wary of the agent that "promises" you can get a lot more. Basically, they just want to win your listing with their grand pie-in-the-sky price, and they know they'll get you to lower the price later on when it doesn't move.

I'd not want to list with the super-busy agent. They often do not give the best service. But, they might have a lot of contacts and might already know someone who might be interested. They also might have a stable of assistants. It's hard to say.

Sometimes some of the lower-key realtors have a larger stable of potential buyers searching with them for specific things than the super-sellers who focus mostly on listing properties. The big dog in my area..... I simply can't imagine him going around with a buyer. He's just not that kind of guy, he doesn't have that kind of patience. He's all about the listing, not the buying. So, he'd not have ANY buyers in mind. A friend of my daughter's mom is a realtor and she's a genius at matching people up the very second she gets a listing. She just has a ton of buyers and knows their wants very very well. She's sold countless houses before the sign is even in the yard because she has someone looking for X when she gets an X listing.

When picking an agency, you might look into the national ones, they have better access to relocation company business. (ie, a company pays them to help their employees with out of town moves). Right now, this is a big factor in my area.

Staraglimmer
01-19-2009, 06:39 PM
Thanks, everyone!!!! I'll do some more homework. I HATED our agent that we used to buy this house, because she was unethical. I've looked at signs around here, but there are so many houses for sale! I'm afraid that we might be stuck with our house. I will take your advice an talk to several agents. I have a list of some that work in our area. We live in West Deer township.

I'll let everyone know how it all works out!!


What part of Pittsburgh do you live in? My sister is in Pittsburgh and recently sold/bought there. I can find out who they used if you like.

That would be great. That way I can look him/her up and see if he/she works in my area. I need some help with my short list!

arivecchi
01-19-2009, 09:20 PM
I'd interview a few, you should get a feeling for them.

Do YOUR homework before hand re: pricing. Assess the competition, be as honest and impersonal as you can be. It's hard, but pretend you are shopping and really really take a look at all the houses similar to yours that are on the market now. Have "buyers' eyes".

Get a grip on where your price should be - do this on your own.

Along the same vein as underpricing, be wary of the agent that "promises" you can get a lot more. Basically, they just want to win your listing with their grand pie-in-the-sky price, and they know they'll get you to lower the price later on when it doesn't move.

I'd not want to list with the super-busy agent. They often do not give the best service. But, they might have a lot of contacts and might already know someone who might be interested. They also might have a stable of assistants. It's hard to say.

Sometimes some of the lower-key realtors have a larger stable of potential buyers searching with them for specific things than the super-sellers who focus mostly on listing properties. The big dog in my area..... I simply can't imagine him going around with a buyer. He's just not that kind of guy, he doesn't have that kind of patience. He's all about the listing, not the buying. So, he'd not have ANY buyers in mind. A friend of my daughter's mom is a realtor and she's a genius at matching people up the very second she gets a listing. She just has a ton of buyers and knows their wants very very well. She's sold countless houses before the sign is even in the yard because she has someone looking for X when she gets an X listing.

When picking an agency, you might look into the national ones, they have better access to relocation company business. (ie, a company pays them to help their employees with out of town moves). Right now, this is a big factor in my area.

Awesome advice. INTERVIEWING THEM IS KEY. Do you pricing/viewing homework BEFORE you interview to determine who is giving you fair advice and who is just trying to get you to sign on. If YOU have a good idea of what comparables in your neighborhood look like and where they are priced, you will have a great idea of where your house fits in that spectrum and can choose a realtor that agrees with your stance. Referrals are nice, but one person's experience can totally differ from another person's. As long as they have the resources of a big agency at your disposal you should be ok. Also make sure that you agree in advance on the marketing plan for your property (ie. where will it be adversited, MLS, papers, online websites? brochure? virtual tour?)

We once hired the "neighborhood realtor" and he promised the moon and delivered nothing. We ended up selling our condo for a better price with a flat fee MLS listing. I would not give an agent's predominance much weight at all.

DebbieJ
01-20-2009, 12:17 AM
We went through Dave Ramsey's website. www.daveramsey.com and click on Real Estate ELP on the right. The people he recommends are fantastic. We sold our house in one month to the only people that came and looked at it. :)