Interviewing Realtors - What to ask?

[sunshine873]

I am calling realtors today & hoping to have a few come out just for us to interview, talk with them & then we'll decide who to go with from there.

We just found out we are moving in 2 months - yikes!!!

So, what questions should I be asking these realtors? Any suggestions?

TIA

[candaceb]

I would ask them about their use of technology and their photography skills (or if they have a professional take the photos of your house for web sites).

[sste]

Did you cold call? How did you get the realtors' names?

I tend to focus alot of energy on getting word of mouth to create my short list. Then I interview 3 people who have all come highly rec'd. I ask questions about how much they have sold in my n'hood/area; their sales volume, and whether they are going to show the house personally or lockbox it (I prefer the former). Alot of it is personality - - dh and I rejected a realtor immediately because she was not friendly to our dog and we could just see that she was not going to like working with a family with a toddler, a dog, a baby on the way.

[sunshine873]

Did you cold call? How did you get the realtors' names?

I tend to focus alot of energy on getting word of mouth to create my short list. Then I interview 3 people who have all come highly rec'd. I ask questions about how much they have sold in my n'hood/area; their sales volume, and whether they are going to show the house personally or lockbox it (I prefer the former). Alot of it is personality - - dh and I rejected a realtor immediately because she was not friendly to our dog and we could just see that she was not going to like working with a family with a toddler, a dog, a baby on the way.

I am in a military community & I have a few friends that have recently moved. So I got suggestions on who they liked/didn't like, etc. That's where I'm starting, then I want to talk to them & get "a feel" for who I'm comfortable with. A lot like you...a very rambunctious toddler & 2 dogs. They need to be able to work with us too! :)

[minnie-zb]

What is the average number of days on market for their current listings?

In the last 6 months, what was the percentage of asking price on their solds? This will give you a good idea of how good they are at pricing initially and negotiating over the offer. I may not have worded this well, but I will give you an example. Listing price of the house is $100,000. When it closed, what was the closing price? Was it $90,000? Obviously you want the two numbers to be as close as possible.

[crl]

I'd ask what his or her marketing plan is for the house. We interviewed three for our last sale. One was an agent we had used three times previously and really liked personally. But we ended up using a different agent this time because his marketing plan was really tailored to our house and its specific location (very close to public transit).

We sold quickly in a difficult market and I think a lot of it was how well our agent targeted his marketing.

I would also ask to see what they are pulling as comps and how they think you should price.

Catherine

[erosenst]

Totally agree with word of mouth.

In addition:

* Make sure they know YOUR specific area, can discuss comps in detail, know what does and doesn't sell, etc.

* Make sure they're posting your listing on Realtor.com, and that they work with a good photographer.

* Ask what they would suggest doing to your house before selling.

* Make sure you like them personally. Hopefully you'll sell very quickly, but if you don't, you don't want to work for a long time, in a stressful situation, with someone you disliked from the start.

We interviewed two realtors recommended by a friend in the commercial real estate business. (Long story, but no one knew we were moving so couldn't ask a lot of friends.) First one was young and energetic....but didn't know our area well, and was totally by the book. He would have had us put all pictures, all of DD's toys, etc away.

Second one was very experienced, knew our area well, and said that, while our house looked like someone lived there, it wasn't overwhelming. We should/could leave pictures, DD's toys, etc out to show how the space would be used.

We chose #2....and sold in 11 days in a very difficult market. (A lot of it was luck - we had a 'right buyer' house, and it was very likely to be bought by one of two kinds of buyers. One of them saw our house right away and bought it.) I would still choose #2 again in a heartbeat.

[ohsara430]

Here's the list we made that we work from:

1. How familiar are they with your specific location? Have they sold anything previously in the neighborhood? How long ago? At what price point?
2. Are they comfortable working with your particular price point? What is the range of sale prices of their current listings?
3. What do they do to connect with buyers? Do they themselves work with buyers also? Sub-question, if they do how would they handle the situation where a their buyer wants to make an offer on the house? (note: I personally have an issue with an agent representing both sides so I always make sure my agent will send the buyer to someone else for the negotiations if they want to bid on my house).
4. Discuss pricing strategy. What price do they think you should list for? What price do they "think" you could get? (Many realtors will tell you they don't want to speculate but I push the issue, I want to know what they think whether or not I agree with them is a separate issue.)
5. Communications: How will they stay in communication with you? How often should you expect to hear from them? i.e. will you get status updates once a week about market conditions, any showings, etc.
6. Do they have an assistant? What is that person's role - do they respond to emails for the realtor? Basically getting at who will be your main point of contact?
7. How are showings handled?
8. Do they like doing open houses? (obviously how you feel about the answer depends on whether you want them to do them or not)
9. If you have a showing, what do they do to follow up with the potential buyer's agent? Do they call, send an email, how soon should you expect feedback.
10. What type of lock box will be put on the house? (Due to problems with the old combination boxes, I only allow them to put an electronic box on our house)
11. Also be sure to discuss the contents of the contract that you would be signing with them. Commission, duration of listing contract, etc.
12. Ask for references of previous clients you can contact to ask about the realtor.

I could go on and on with things you could ask after many good and bad experiences with realtors. Try to stay objective in choosing someone. Just because you like their personality doesn't mean they'll be good at the job. I agree with the advice to get word of mouth recommendations although you have to be careful there too, someone might recommend a close friend or relative because of their relationship not because they are a great realtor.