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If you are reading this and have a home in Central Texas, then yours truly is a local agent that can help! I work hard to ensure I am implementing the best practices and doing the right things to get your home sold for the most. I appreciate including me among the agents you interview!
6 Criteria to Help Choose an Agent
Reviews
Most established agents will have reviews. Somewhere. Facebook, Yelp, Zillow, Google. If you can’t find any searching online, ask them where they keep their reviews. As an agent, it is difficult to please everyone, but enough reviews should paint a picture of their strengths as an agent.
Designations and Certifications
Agents can earn professional designations like GRI, CRS, ABR, ePro, SFR, and others. Most of these designations require coursework and regular membership fees. Generally, designations can be a good clue as to who has invested the most in their job and profession.
Designations I would recommend looking for are the GRI (Graduate Realtor Institute) and CRS (Certified Residential Specialist). You may look for other specific designations, like the Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource (SFR) or Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) for specific needs. Most agents will list their designations after their name on their business card or email signature.
Experience
Every agent has to start somewhere. But real estate has a steep learning curve, and experienced agents are likely to be better prepared and bring more to the table.
Experience for agents come not with the number of years, but the number of transactions. Ask your agent how many transactions they’ve done in the past year. In the Fort Hood Area, anywhere from 15-50 (not including teams, who can handle many more transactions) is a typical workload of an engaged agent.
If the agent has fewer, find out why. Finally, if they click with you on a lot of other levels and have a good brokerage with support, they may still be a good fit for you.
Knowledge and Rapport
Interview agents. If you have a few agents you are considering, arrange a time for each to give you their listing presentation at your home. Interviewing them is a good way to evaluate both how knowledgeable the agent may be and how well you get along.
Also, agents with a strong online or professional presence, perhaps with a blog with lots of local information (wink wink!) likely have demonstrated knowledge of the market can be a great find!
TREC Violations
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) regulates real estate brokerages and keeps a record of disciplinary actions against agents and brokers. You can search an agent’s history here.
I’ve met some great agents who have been fined or otherwise disciplined at one point or another, so it is not a foolproof method of evaluating an agent. But it is still good information.
Membership in the Local Board of Realtors®
All real estate is local. And so should be your Realtor!
Take a 30-minute drive in any direction and you’ve entered a completely different and unique real estate market. Most people may not realize it, but there is a different MLS system for every region of Texas. The MLS covering the Fort Hood area is the Central Texas MLS (CTXMLS). The Austin MLS (ACTRIS) is the second most prominent MLS, and definitely a good one on which to get your home listed. Realtors are seldom a member of more than one or two (I am a member of CTXMLS and ACTRIS).
If you are looking in the Fort Hood area, you want an agent who is one of the approximately 400 Realtors® that is a member of the Fort Hood Area Association of Realtors (FHAAR).
9 Red Flags When Interviewing Agents
Now you know what to look for in an agent.
Now beware any agent doing any of the following:
Tries to overprice your home
It is called “buying a listing”.
It is not buying your house, but rather buying the right to sell it by overpromising on the price you can get. The agent lists the home, waits 3 months to demonstrate that you overpriced the home, gets you to drop the price, sells it and cashes your check.
Meanwhile, the silly agent who told you the truth and the fair price to begin with – well, he didn’t get the listing or the check, did he?
Be level-headed and look through the comps that an agent has provided. Do they justify the price they’re recommending? And no, an agent can’t get your home sold higher than market because they are “just that good”. Interview multiple agents; get multiple price recommendations; tune out the agent who overpromises to get your business.
Says they already have an interested buyer
This is the most annoying to me. Especially if you had an active listing that just expired, you will probably get a call from an agent saying “I have buyers I’m working with who may be interested in your home. Are you still interested in selling?” Who are these buyers who suddenly are only interested in your home now that it is OFF the market?
Well, anybody. Literally anybody. Anyone at all.
What the agent is actually saying is that there are millions of people in America who might be interested in your home. Or might not. But the only way to find out is to list your home with this particular agent.
It is a slick, cheesy way to get a listing and reveals an agent more interested in tricks than in techniques.
Works part-time
Full disclosure – I started real estate as a part-time agent.
For many, it can be a necessity, trying to knock out the steep learning curve involved with becoming a competent agent while still actually making money to feed the family.
But having done it part time, I know exactly how difficult it can be to serve clients well. Only when I became a full-time agent have I had the time and resources to really improve my business and service, and that is a tremendous asset full-time agents have over the part-time competition.
Discount their commission
This may seem a little self-serving – “Hey, don’t go with another agent who is cheaper than I am”. But it is still a red flag. Agent commissions are negotiable (5%-7% is common). But an agent who too readily discounts their commission (and themselves) should be concerning.
I personally charge 6% (3% to the buyer’s agent, 3% to my brokerage) and believe that is a deal for our market and what I provide. I don’t charge extra for my professional photography and videography. I am confident that what I provide in terms of service, peace of mind, and home value is worth that and more.
They are a wimp
Does your house stink? Is your house worth far less than you think it is? Maybe the bedroom your repainted puce is actually hideous?
Does your agent have the personal courage to tell you these incredibly important things that can dramatically impact the value of your home? It is difficult for agents because we don’t want to offend our future (hopefully) customers. But you don’t want an agent who is afraid to lay down the facts, even when the facts aren’t fun.
Can’t explain why they’re better than the competition
“All Realtors are the same” is a common refrain among home buyers and sellers. And unfortunately, for many agents it’s true.
Agents may think their job is all the same – get the paper signed, slap it on the MLS and cross your fingers. Some agents are better.
I lay out what I do that I believe is above and beyond the competition. You too should ask your agent a simple question. “How are you better than your competitors?” See if they squirm.
They are a relative
Similar to above, if you think “all Realtors are alike”, then you might be inclined to hand off the reins to your friend or nephew who has their license.
I would give them the same vetting you would give any other agent. While it might be awkward to use someone other than your friend or family member, it will be no less awkward (and more painful) to do business with them in a deal that falls to pieces.
They’re the only one you interviewed
70% of home sellers only interview one agent. It is pretty astounding – a professional service you are prepared to pay $1000s to, and yet sellers spend less time considering alternatives than they might spend choosing between restaurants for a $20 meal.
Even if the agent is a referral or the very agent you bought the house with, shopping around will give you a bigger and better picture of what another agent can offer and what to expect from the agent you finally choose.
Gives “guarantees”
“We guarantee to sell your home, or we’ll buy it!”
Yes, they will, not at the listing price you agree to but at a dirt cheap price where they’ll make money off of you anyway.
Most guarantees work like that. A truthful agent will tell you that there are few guarantees in real estate, and guarantees come at a cost.
A good agent will work hard to maximize your home’s advantages to get the highest price that the market will allow. Unless the agent themselves is actually going to buy it at the list price, they certainly can’t guarantee anyone else will.
Next > The Listing Agreement
