by R. Parker guest author
You have listed your home you have high hopes to be packing up and moving shortly, so why are the offers not pouring in and is this your agents fault or another reason?
Real Estate agents can facilitate the sale of your home and generally they are a good investment in marketing your home at the best possible price and in the shortest amount of time. Realtors do have connections and they have access to the MLS system and the network of agents that this represents. It comes down to having more contact with potential buyers than you will have as an individual trying to sell your own home.
However not all realtors are created equal. How can you determine if your realtor is doing the job?
1. Check the MLS listing on realtor.com and ensure that your home is listed and that there has been effort put into writing the most appealing description possible as well as ensuring that all the details are completed for your home. Having said this don't expect your realtor to outright lie on your behalf. While he/she does work for you and it is in their best interest to sell your home there is no point in wasting their time or yours showing your home to potential buyers that have been misled as to the desirability of your property.
2. Assuming that your realtor works for a company that maintains an office website and with a realtor that maintains their own website (2 points to ascertain before listing with anyone), do the above check on these websites as well. Ensure that these websites have the best possible pictures to highlight the best features of your property. Do not immediately assume that if your realtor has only posted one outside shot of your home that this means that they are falling down on the job. Depending on the type, age and condition of your home this may have been a conscious decision of less is more. While the realtor has no control of the size or quality of pictures on the MLS system, he/she should have on their own website. Therefore ensure that pictures are a minimum of 640x480 pixels in size and the quality is good. Pictures sell homes!
3. Does you realtor check in with you on a regular basis? Regular can have different meanings and will be related to the type of property that you are trying to sell. If you are selling bare land the time required to sell the property may be greater and therefore as there is historically less action you may not hear from your realtor as often as a home sale in a hot area. However you should be aware that your realtor is still in the business as he/she should call at least once a month and as often in a hot market situation as weekly to give you progress reports.
4. In the case of home sales, has your realtor held an open house? Now you should realize that open houses are generally held only for properties that will show well. These are homes with curb appeal as well as well maintained interiors, so if you have a small older home as you will find often in PEI then your realtor may not see an advantage in an open house. Likewise if your home is not kept clean and tidy, your realtor will not want to put the effort into an open house. So do your part and ensure that your home is viewing ready.
5. Finally although the web has taken a lot of emphasis off local media advertising, there are opportunities to market your home through ads in the local paper which will often have a real estate section as well as other local advertising, cable TV channels, real estate publication, mall based kiosks etc. Depending once again on the value of your home and the likelihood of sale, based on value to price, your realtor may advertise in these other ways
Realize that realtors are independent while working within a brokerage. They are responsible for their own costs and some have greater budgets to promote your home than others. However they will always weigh the likelihood of a sale with expense and costs. If you are asking a very high price for your home in a lower market your realtor is not going to spend that much advertising it. Likewise if you aren't willing to do your part and get your home ready for sale as well as keeping it 'show ready' this will affect the amount of money and effort any realtor will invest in your home sale.
About the Author
R. Parker works with local realtors to promote PEI and help residents and visitors alike enter the PEI real estate market. Check out PEI real estate listings.
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