Well, we all have the MLS......
Selling a home is more than just entering it into the computerized multiple listing system. If your home is input by an Agent into the computerized multiple listing system and it does not sell, what have you accomplished? When you are interviewing different agents to make a decision with whom you are going to entrust your goal of selling your home, you need to make sure you are getting hard answers to hard questions. I always say if I ask a square question and get a round answer, "sumthin' ain't right." What is it you want to know when you are selling your home? First you want to know for how much it is going to sell? If you over price it, you don't sell your home, in fact you sell your competitor's home, i.e. the other homes against whom you are competing in the multiple listing service. Most Agents will come with an answer about your home's value but how do you know their answer is correct?
The Truth, the whole truth and nuthin' but the truth....
Why not ask them how they came up with that value? Every Agent worth having should be able to document how they came up with a value. The Agent should be able to provide you the underlying documentation and their organized formatted analysis of the information contained in their supporting documentation. You should be able to sit down after they leave with organized formatted analysis, back check their analysis upon the underlying source documents (generally closed sales), and quickly and easily see how they came up with the value they did. You should be able to determine for yourself the reasonableness of their conclusions. If you can't do that, or the Agent has given you just a verbal statement of value and NOTHING concrete as underlying support for their bold statement, or just gave you some closed sales with NO ANALYSIS, maybe you should be interviewing other Agents. What if you under value it and you leave money on table? I hate that! There is a careful balance between over and under valuing asking prices. Your agent should be able to profile your likely buyer in age, likely financial wherewithal, type of financing to expect, whether or not there is a likelihood that you will have to pay some closing costs on behalf of your buyer, tell you when your home should sell at an 80% confidence level, tell you what, if anything you need to do, or should REASONABLY do, to prepare your home for market. If you think that something should be updated or changed or the Agent says so, ask them why or why not and upon what they base their response. I have been in some situations where I could not believe what Sellers were asked to do that had nothing to do with anything about selling a home.
Does your Broker even know....
Your agent should be able to tell you the two, maybe three things that are the driving factors about selling your home. This does not include the over all market, or its location....we're presuming they are looking at your home because they want to buy and we are presuming that they have an interest in the area. It means the things that are most likely to be the TOP factors in anyone thinking about your home. What about your home sells it versus one of the other homes against whom you are competing. Ask your agent the difference between value and marketability. As them to give you a cost analysis of any improvement they suggest against the back drop of value and marketability. If your interview with an Agent is all sizzle and no steak and your Agent stumbles on these types of question, or can't back up what they say with hard written documentation or analysis, then contact me and let me show you what an informed Agent brings to the process. After all, we all have the MLS!! MEET WITH MOORES AND EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE FOR YOURSELF. If you want to know more subtle, but just as important factors in considering which Broker to select, click on the other Selling tab called "but I digress".