6 Responsibilities Of Real Estate Agents

Make Sure Yours Does These 6 Things Better Than Anyone Else

1. Create Awareness That Your Property is Now Available For Sale

The agent you select must do everything he or she can to be sure that the consumer is made aware that you are now available by the methods they are looking to find you.

Where Buyers First Learned About the Home They Purchased

From the 2009 National Association of Realtors Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers.

There are some low-impact marketing methods some agents still use such as homes magazines, newspaper ads, and open houses. There’s nothing wrong with choosing an agent that uses those marketing methods in addition to high-impact methods, but make sure that the agent you hire invests heavily in and understands how to use the high-impact marketing mediums in the chart above, which are: 1. The Real Estate Agent Community, 2. The Internet, and 3.The Signage on the Property. These three account for 84% of all sales. Newspaper ads and homes magazines only account for 2% combined.

2. Promote the Specific Benefits That Your Home Brings to the Market

Awareness level is not enough. If awareness level were enough, you could put a sign in the yard yourself and you could do whatever minimal advertising it took to make the consumer aware you were here. And they would come to your door, automatically. Well that’s not quite the way it happens, because there is a selection and evaluation process by which a consumer will select a property to go look at or a real estate professional will select a property to present. That process is based on information given and an understanding of why that property is a better opportunity than its direct competition.

That’s our job. Our role is to educate the consumer and their real estate professional of the benefits that your property brings to the market over any of its direct competition. That’s why it is so important that we go through and do our homework properly so that we will be the most educated people about your house, second only to you, the homeowner. You’re looking to us as your primary resource, to go out into the marketplace and make people understand that you are the best opportunity. We must be able to speak with great authority and great wisdom about your home so that there is no question if they are making a consideration between a competing property and yours, that they have more information, more understanding, and a feeling that this is the better opportunity based on our presentation of information about your house.

Our job is not only to create the awareness level, it is to take it to the next level and really promote the benefits that your property has and to educate both the consumer and other real estate professionals working in your homes segment of the market.

3. Defend Your Equity

When you hire a real estate agent to represent you, that individual, starting on day one becomes the primary defender of your equity. The individual you choose should have the strongest negotiating skills that you can find in the marketplace to protect your interests. It is our job to put the best contract terms and the best price on the table for your benefit.

4. Price Your Property Using an Accurate System that Nets You the Most Amount of Money

It is common for agents to look at three “comparable sales”, and come up with a price for your home. While looking at comparable sales is indeed important, it does not give the complete picture of the market you are in and where your home needs to be priced in order for it to sell.

We use a three step pricing system. First, we look at the supply vs. demand in your immediate area. That tells us if we can afford to push the envelope on price, or if we need to concentrate on being the best deal out there. Second, we look at the comparable sales, and establish a value range that an appraiser could put your house in. Third, we look at your competition and answer the question, “Based on the type of market you are in, where do you need to be inside the appraised value range, compared to your competition, to ensure that you sell for the most money in a reasonable amount of time?”

5. Analyze Your Property’s Performance in the Market on a Weekly Basis

The agent you choose should have a proactive approach to getting their listings sold. Most agents utilize the “3 P’s” method of selling homes…

1. Put a sign in the yard

2. Put it in the MLS

3. Pray

We don’t. For us, the day we put your home on the market is just a starting point. On a weekly basis, we are evaluating how your home is faring among its competition. We are looking at how many inquiries we received from potential buyers, the number of showings, the feedback from those showings, the homes you were competing against that have now sold, and the new competitors on the market. Once a week, we are asking the question, “If we continue down the same path we’re on right now in terms of marketing, presentation quality, and price, can we anticipate an offer coming in?” That’s a yes or no question. If the answer is no, then we need to figure out how we can get positioned correctly.

6. Tell You What You Need to Hear, Not What You Want to Hear

This seems so simple, but it is not. The greatest temptation a listing agent has is to tell people what they think they want to hear. This is true before an agent is hired and after the agent has been hired. Before they are hired, the temptation is to tell potential clients they can get the price they want, even if it’s above what the market looks like it will pay. And the temptation after being hired is to try to not be “offensive” and tell people when there is a problem… whether with the presentation quality of the home or with the price.

The best way to tell if an agent is always truthful with their clients is to look at their track record for getting homes sold. If they are not selling homes faster and for more money than the market average, chances are that agent is telling their clients what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.

We promise to always tell you the truth, not just what we think will make you happy.

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