What to look for in a realtor?

fried1765 · Feb 21, 2019

EddieWalker said:
For a few years, I was flipping houses for a living and had quite a bit of contact with realtors. What I've learned is that very few of them are worth hiring. The vast majority will not last very long, don't have a lot of motivation, and haven't sold enough houses to have a solid grasp on the market. The vast majority will focus on saying what you want to hear to get the listing, and then do pretty much nothing after putting it out on the MLS. They will agree to your price and after nothing happens for a month or so, suggest that you lower the price. This is about all they will do for you to sell the house. They are lucky if they sell 5 to ten houses a year.

There are a few really good realtors in every market that know exactly what the house will sell for, and what you can do to improve on how quickly it sells, and how to get the most money out of it. They tend to sell 50 houses or more a year.

Hardest thing when hiring a realtor is listening to the truth. Most people are attached to their home emotionally and they tend to believe that what they did to the house will make it worth more money, when in fact, it's usually the opposite. Since moving on from flipping house, and now remodeling, them I get a lot of job from clients that are doing what their realtor suggest in order to sell their house. Those houses always sell in weeks after I'm done with what the realtor suggested. A few have been on the market for over a year, and the new realtor comes in, sees the problem, and hires me to fix it.

First thing to do when hiring a realtor is to find out how many houses a year that they sell. If it's a farm with acreage, then find out how many of those that they sell per year. The good ones know how to market a house, but also what people are looking for. They will tell you what is wrong with your house. Not so much what a home inspector will find, but what a buyer is wanting. Ugly wall paper, bad paint color, dark room that needs more light, nasty bathroom tile and so on. But also what needs to be removed, things like family pictures, too many clothes in the closets, too much furniture and whatever else that they see when they look at the house that the home owner doesn't see. My parents where horrible about this and it cost them a lot of money. They hired the neighbor to sell their house, who did nothing. She didn't tell them that my moms nick-nacks all over the place made the house look cluttered, that they had so much furniture that it was hard to walk through the rooms, and that her closets where overflowing with clothes that there was not storage. After a few years of this, they hired a good realtor that brought in a dozen other realtors, and they wrote up a list of whey the wouldn't buy the house. Once all those things where addressed, and we hauled a huge trailer full of Mom's junk here, the house sold in a few months for exactly what that realtor said it would. It just took somebody to stand up to my Mom and tell her what needed to be done.

Talk to at least five different realtors. Never hire the first, or anybody right after talking to them. Sleep on it, google them, ask around after you meet them. Never hire family or friends, or the spouse of a friend. If anybody says to hire somebody because they need the work, RUN AWAY from that person. You want to hire the best, the person that is the busiest, and the one that is selling a house a week, or more. Here in Tyler, I bet we have about 200 realtors, and probably 3 that sell a house a week.

Do not make friends with the realtor. This is business. They want your money, you want them to provide a service to earn that money. Most people hire the person that is the friendliest, the one that they like, the one who agrees with them. Then you are stuck with a friendly person that doesn't do anything for you.

And I really have to repeat this, do not hire anybody the day you meet them. Wait at least a day, or even better, a week. Worse mistake that you will make is hiring somebody right away, on impulse, or just to get it over with.

Good luck

It also helps if she is cute, and 40 years old.
I am 78.
Worked out OK for me.

two_bit_score · Feb 21, 2019

What to look for in a Realtor?

Find the one who sells the most houses in your price range. Usually the local BOR can tell you or check with the local title companies in a smaller town to see who the selling agent is on the most closings.

That will most likely be the one you want. It’s all about the bottom line results.

dragoneggs · Feb 21, 2019

two_bit_score said:
What to look for in a Realtor?

Find the one who sells the most houses in your price range. Usually the local BOR can tell you or check with the local title companies in a smaller town to see who the selling agent is on the most closings.

That will most likely be the one you want. It’s all about the bottom line results.

Good advice and in the area you are located.

PILOON · Feb 21, 2019

LOL, if selling use the one that closest resembles a used car salesman, you know the one that could sell refrigerators to eskimos.

When buying the most honest sounding one you can find, not the one that shows you houses that are totally not what U described you were looking for.
And never buy the house he is also the listing agent as he is looking for double commission as both seller and buyer.

airbiscuit · Feb 21, 2019

If I am following your thread ...

You are looking for a realtor to LIST the house (it is likely a realtor you don't even know will find the buyer)
You live some distance away so it is important you have someone competent

I went through a similar situation a couple of years ago for my parents farm. I would ask the local banks, zoning staff, or abstract offices for who they would recommend. You will want someone who:

Knows the market, knows property, and knows the rules
Shoots straight about value, doesn't inflate it to get the listing
Is a tenacious advocate for you
A tough negotiator
Honest and Upfront
Knows how to market the property (ours used a professional photographer with impressive results)
Is networked
Is active, not passive
Is a good communicator, and gets back to you
Is willing to tell you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear

I used to think realtor fees were a waste of money. I don't think that anymore (if you have a good one)

Tractor Seabee · Feb 22, 2019

As a seller, know what mortgage companies want fixed before spending a lot on minor stuff. Fix the must do stuff as it only slows down the process as inspections uncover it and closing day looms waiting on the mortgage application to clear. Mostly boils down to code, safety, pests, wet basements and crawl spaces, visible mold, and structural damage items.

Ron

two_bit_score · Feb 22, 2019

dragoneggs said:
Good advice and in the area you are located.

It all boils down to the bottom line. A lot of great comments in this thread but most of them get out into the weeds pretty much. The best real estate agent will almost always have the majority of the good qualities mentioned and few of the bad. That’s why they sell/close the most houses in their ‘farm’.

9973720wb19 · Feb 22, 2019

find someone that was born and raised in the area (a long-time local) and made Residential Real Estate their career...a local guy everyone knows and he knows everyone. they will be honest and know of various vendor people that will help with repairs, inspections, moving, settlement etc.

Tomtint · Feb 22, 2019

Realtors are nothing more than glorified used car sales people. Some are good, most are not. Look at their past performance with previous listings. ( Their listings ) look at the difference between list price and sale price as well as days on market. Ask what their marketing plan will be for your property and have them put it in writing. Many agents will tell you to list for the moon and the stars just to get the listing, then throw it in the MLS and hope for the best. A good broker will show you re Eng comps that are listed and also ones that have recently sold. Longevity in a local office is also a good sign of successful brokers.