Choosing a Real Estate Agent

Choosing Your Real Estate Agent Is Your Most Important Decision

How will you choose the right real estate agent?

Will you choose a Real Estate Agent with a proven track record? When you interview a Real Estate Agent, ask to see their list of Stockton homes they have sold this year and the year before (not the number of homes "Their Realty Company" has sold but the number of homes they have sold. The total number of homes "Their Realty Company" has sold has absolutely nothing to do with that Agent's effectiveness.

• Will you choose The Agent over The Company? Remember, you are not hiring "The Company". The Company" won't ever answer your questions, show your home, present a contract, or manage your escrow. "The Company" sells no homes, individual Agents do. What are the average number of listings sold per year per person in the company? (In many large companies this is usually less than one per month per agent).

• Will you choose the agent who claims they can get you the highest price? It is more important to choose an Agent who has more effective marketing tools and knows the Stockton Real Estate Market you are in, not an Agent desperate to get a listing. Agent's don't determine selling price, Buyer's do. An Agent who is not up on the current real estate market conditions can cause you to lose the "important window of opportunity" to sell your home at the price and terms best for you.

• Will you pick the cheapest agent? Remember the expression, "you get what you pay for" applies to real estate too! If you think it's expensive to hire a professional just wait until you hire an amateur.

  Here are a few questions to ask your next real estate agent

  	How long have you been in the Real Estate business full-time?
  	How many listings do you take in the average month?
  	How many sales do you have monthly?
  	How many of your listings have sold in the past 12 months?
  	Where is your primary marketing area?
  	How long have you been working in this area?
  	Do you have an assistant?
  	Will I be working primarily with you or your assistant?
  	Do you have a written marketing plan, specifically designed to get my property sold?
  	What major marketing Programs have you designed to ensure that my home gets sold?
  	Will my property be on the Multiple Listing Service? How will you set my listing apart from the crowd? In what ways will you encourage other agents to sell my property?
  	Will you produce a professional flyer of my property which will include as a minimum an exterior photo?
  	In what ways do your help me save the equity in my home? Do you have any other options like a Discount Fee marketing program or a Menu of Services, or is your fee 6% like the traditional companies?
  	Do you have full-time personal assistants who see that no details are overlooked and who call neighbors around my property looking for buyers?
  	Do you have systems in your business to notify me via email of all showings for my property and the feedback from those showings?
  	Are you internet savvy? Do you have a web site? Just a web page? (Last count, over 2200 pages on this site) Do you have the latest IDX multiple listing system?
  	What is my property going to sell for? What should it be listing at? How did you arrive at that price?
  	What ongoing education have you enrolled in during the past 12 months to improve your level of service to your clients?
  	Are you a Broker or just an agent?
  	How do you rank among your peers... are you among  Stockton's top Realtors?
  	Are you in control of negotiating your commission, ie, if I buy and sell a home using your services?
  	Are you the owner of the company?
  	How is your phone system handled? Has the person answering the phone seen my property? Are they licensed agents? What is their experience?
  	How much is your commission, do I get a reduced rate?
  	Are you providing virtual photography tours?  Are they full screen? Check Out Our 360° virtual photography tours