TEN CHARACTERISTICS OF A GREAT REAL ESTATE AGENT
We are operating in and for the communities of Cedarhurst, Woodmere, North Woodmere, Woodsburgh, Lawrence, Hewlett, Inwood and the eastern end of Far Rockaway.
We are operating in and for the communities of Cedarhurst, Woodmere, North Woodmere, Woodsburgh, Lawrence, Hewlett, Inwood and the eastern end of Far Rockaway.
A great agent has time for you. They manage your home sale or purchase personally and are the single point of contact for you. They answer your calls within a few hours (or minutes) and make you feel as though yours is the only home sale or purchase on which they are working. Your sale is never delegated to an assistant for important tasks.
A great agent shows you how they are going to market your house using a completely integrated marketing plan that includes, print, a strong internet presence, and word of mouth. Over 90% of first time home buyers go to the internet first. What kind of internet marketing do they do? How updated and easy to navigate is their website? How many hits does their site get on a daily basis?
The best agents are honest about the price they expect your home to command. The Realtor who tells you your house has the highest value is not necessarily the agent who will get you the most money. It is well known among agents that there are agents who ‘buy the listing’ by telling you an artificially indefensible number you want to hear, not one that the market may bear.
Hire a agent who walks the walk, not just one who talks the talk. It is amazing the number of agents who rent the house in which they live. A December 2008 study by Realtor magazine said only 41% of all Realtors own investment property. Would you hire a stock broker who owned no stock? Until an agent has been in your shoes, they cannot fully advise you.
A great agent belongs to a reputable brokerage. The brokerage represents the agent’s support structure for you. Do they have a market presence that can attract buyers? Do they offer their agents legal support, training and advertising assistance that can insure your house is sold in a legally sound manner and for the highest price?
A great agent earns every cent of their commission and strives to keep it as vehemently as they strives to get you the highest possible price for your home. If Discount Brokers are so quick to discount their own fees, how do you think they will be in standing up for you during a hard negotiation to get you a great price for your home?
A great agent knows your neighborhood. They can quote the statistics of what is selling, why and where. They know the schools, the stores, the places of worship, the traffic patterns and what the hot issues for the town are. They know how far the parks are from your home. In short, they know everything about your neighborhood so they can do the best job of selling your home.
A great agent has a track record of successful negotiations. When you interview an agent, ask them to recount a story or two about a really tough negotiation they have had and how they succeeded in getting what their client wanted. If you get a deer in the headlight type response to this question pick another agent.
A great agent probably has some statistics to prove they're the #1 Realtor in their area. Ask them to provide 3rd party documentation of how many sales they've done in the last year or so, and have them compare it to other Realtors in your area. If they cannot provide this information to you, or don't want to, then they have something to hide.
A great agent gives you a defensible, comprehensive market analysis to support their price and marketing recommendation.
If you are selling your home and you're looking for an honest broker who cares about you and your home, and will tell you the truth about your homes value before you sign up, who goes the extra mile showing your home even when it's an off-hour or on short notice and performs above and beyond the norm, please call us.
If you are a buyer, and you're tired of being shown houses above your price range, being misled about details, or being harrassed to make an offer--please call us. We do not believe the formula to success is to be a pushy as possible. We are transaction facilitators helping make the home-buying process easier on both sides.