Selling Your Home and Choosing Your Agent 

For most of us, the sale (or purchase) of a home is the single highest dollar personal transaction we will be involved in during our lives.  It is a complex undertaking with many moving parts and in order to ensure a smooth transaction with the best outcome--putting the most money in your pocket--it is critical that you choose the right agent to represent you; one that understands and is highly competent in all elements of the sales process.

Choosing Your Agent

Questions you need to ask include:

• Do you want personalized service or are you ok working with a large team where you may only meet the agent one time, and maybe never?

• What are your expectations in terms of communication?  Are you satisfied with only hearing from your agent if and when they have a contract?  Is email or text only communication ok?  Do you want and expect to talk to that agent directly about progress on the sale of your home?

• Is the agent a full-time agent, or just doing real estate on the side to pick up a few extra dollars.  Give the magnitude of the transaction, don't you deserve a dedicated professional handling the transaction for you?

• What is their track record with sales?  The average agent only sells 4 homes per year.  Are you satisfied with an average agent or do you want more?

• How does their list to sales price compare to other agent in the market?

• How do their days on marKet for homes they list compare with other agents and the market as a whole? 

After the Contract is Signed 

As a seller it is important that you understand that the agent's job is not done, when a contract to sell your home is complete.  In fact, many of the most valuable and important activities and services your agent provides take place after the contract is signed.

These include:

• Communication with the Buyer's Agent

• Communication with the Buyer's Lender

• Inspections and responding to Buyer repair requests

• Appraisals and working with appraisers

• Title considerations and issues

Your agent's knowledge and experience and how they handle all these phases of the transaction can make the difference between a transaction that blows up and a transaction that gets to and through closing.