When selecting an agent to sell your home, there’s probably a number of factors that you’d consider before engaging the agent of your choice.
Years ago, I surveyed one hundred of my past appraisal appointments and asked them to name the top five criteria that they use when selecting an agent.
In order of priority, here’s the most common criteria that this survey produced…
- They seemed to be genuine/ honest
- A past business relationship/ dealt with them before
- Recommended by friends or family
- They were likable
- A strong track record of sales in the area
- A Good reputation
- Their commission was the cheapest
- I like the way they market similar homes
- The price they told me to expect for my property/ appraised price
- They had zero costs upfront/ cheap or no marketing fees
Whilst this survey would probably yield slightly different results these days, I’m pretty confident that the result would be fairly similar if we conducted it again today.
Clearly, honestly is a huge priority for any seller and let’s face it…agents are perceived by the public to be more dishonest than they are honest.
As an agent, it can be frustrating when you’re asked a question and answer with complete honesty, yet your answers are not believed in any capacity based on the reputation that clouds real estate agents in general.
Only last month, I was speaking to a buyer that was very interested in a property that we had for sale.
They asked me if we had any other interest in the property and I told them that we did and were expecting an offer later that night from another buyer.
This particular buyer questioned me and told me straight to my face that he thought I was lying since the property had already been on the market for 4 weeks.
I politely informed him that I wasn’t lying and that he may be best to submit an offer immediately if he was interested in purchasing the property.
He told me that he wanted to wait for a few days as he felt the owner would be more negotiable.
I told him that the owner wouldn’t change their position given we had solid interest in the home and I asked him if he would want to submit an offer if the other offer came in later that night.
Again, he accused me of lying and told me that he wouldn’t.
Two days later he called me and asked me the status of the home.
I told him that it was under contract and that the person who indicated that they may make an offer, did make an offer and the contract was negotiated and accepted later that night.
His response was priceless…”I’m filthy with you…You should have told me that you were telling the truth if this was the case!”
So when an agent’s integrity is highly scrutinised and when honesty is the number one criteria when selecting an agent, how can you determine if you’re selecting an agent that will be honest and ethical with you throughout the entire process?
There’s plenty of stories of agents being as sweet as honey when they are touting for your business but turn into ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ from the very moment that you commit in writing to engage them for 2-3 months.
Next week, I’ll share with you some tips of setting up your sale process so that you know you won’t incur any nasty surprises and more importantly, I’ll share how to determine if your agent is committed to seeing the journey through whilst ensuring that they have your best interests at heart.
You might be surprised what a few discreet investigations can reveal.
Until then, Happy Listing & Happy Selling.