By John McGrath, Property Expert
Real estate guru John McGrath says choosing the best agent to sell your property is the second most important decision in real estate (after choosing the right property to buy). However, he believes that many people are too casual in their approach to this crucial decision. Here, he shares 15 questions to ask when hiring a real estate agent.
Many people ring a couple of agents and choose the one who gives them the highest valuation or has the lowest commission. However, I believe you should create a series of questions that you want to ask agents, and interview a few as if you’re considering them for a job. This extra effort will be well worth it in the long run.
To help, I’ve devised this list of:
15 Questions To Ask When Hiring A Real Estate Agent
- What do you think my property is worth? How have you come up with that figure?
- How does my house present? What can I do to maximise the sale price?
- What’s the best method for selling my property? Auction or private treaty? Why? [Click here to read John’s recent article on the benefits and risks of buying via private treaty].
- What’s an approximate time frame?
- What’s it going to cost me?
- Why should I hire you?
- How long have you been working in this area?
- What comparable homes have you sold in this area lately?
- What’s the state of the market?
- How long is it taking you to sell well priced listings at the moment?
- What marketing strategy do you suggest? Why?
- How much will be spent on marketing? Why?
- How much traffic does your website get?
- What will you do to introduce buyers to my property?
- Do you have a list of recent vendors I can speak to?
