What To Look For In A Real Estate Agent To Sell Your Home

Selling your home can be an emotional & exhausting process, learn what you need to look for to choose the right agent & alleviate some of that stress.

Your home is likely the most expensive asset you own, and it is completely understandable that you feel a little anxious at the prospect of selling it. Not only do you have all the emotions associated with saying goodbye (our homes are an integral part of some of our biggest life events), but you want to ensure that you get the very best price for your home in order to set you up for your next adventure, whether that be purchasing another home, investing in a business, starting a family or travelling the world.

We think that it is vitally important that you feel comfortable that the sale of your home is in good hands, and to help you find the very best agent for you, we have prepared the following guide, with step-by-step instructions for finding the right real estate agent to sell your property.

1. Research potential agents

It’s really hard to make a choice between agents if you don’t know who there is to pick from. So the first step is to identify potential agents in your area and gain an understanding as to how they work.
A great way of doing this is to spend a couple of weeks attending open homes and observing the real estate agents who are selling the homes.

Pay attention to:

• Was the agent on time and organised for the open home?
• Did the agent communicate and interact well with potential buyers?
• Their overall behaviour at the open

• Did they wait at the door and welcome everybody?
• Did they highlight the unique features of the property?
• Were they able to easily answer questions you or other prospective buyers had about the property?

• Did they have great marketing materials available for the property?

By putting yourself in the position of the potential buyers of your property, you will be able to understand how well each agent is able to communicate with potential buyers, and gather a good understanding as to whether you would be confident and comfortable with them selling your home.

‍2. Narrow it down to specialists for your region

Real estate agents often have a niche in which they specialise, whether that be a region (a particular town or suburb) or a property type (units vs houses vs rural properties) or a combination thereof. Agents who are regularly dealing with similar properties are likely to be able to offer you benefits that an agent who is less familiar with your property type or region are.

The benefits might include:

• An understanding as to what buyers of properties like yours want (and the ability to speak in a way that is relevant to them)
• A better understanding of the market and realistic sales price for your property
• Access to a list of buyers who are already actively looking for properties like yours

‍3. Which agents are getting the results? 

The aim of this whole process is to sell your home, so looking at the success rate of agents you are considering is a great way to figure out whether they are likely to be able to achieve this for you, and in what time frame (remembering the longer a property stays on the market, the less likely you are to achieve the asking price).

‍4. Of all of the agents that you have considered, who has made you feel most comfortable?

Selling your home can be an emotional, and exhausting process. Ensuring that the agent that you choose to sell your property is someone you can be open and honest with, and that you feel comfortable with will make the whole process far less taxing on your emotions.