| How do I choose the best real estate agent

The best agent is one who can help you with a smooth, quick sale, for the highest possible price.   So it is important to compare agents across a number of vital factors.

Get referrals
Nothing has credibility like referrals & testimonials. Just look at the popularity of RateMyAgent.

Ask friends and family members if they can recommend a real estate agent with whom they’ve had a good experience. Ideally, you’ll want someone with experience working with clients who are similar to you. There’s no bigger compliment to an agent than a referral from a past client.

Local Knowledge
Your real estate agent needs to understand the local market in your area. Really understand it.

When you meet an agent, make sure you ask them about their local knowledge – It is just as important as the agent’s ability. Do they know what houses have sold by who for what? Do they know every street? Do they know every school, shop and cafe? Do they know zoning & future developments. By asking these questions, you will find the depth of their knowledge.

Marketing Strategy
The real estate agent you pick must be good at marketing.

This is vital. When interviewing an agent, discuss what marketing they plan on doing for your property. Today agents need to be very effective with online and social media marketing. By looking at their social media accounts and website, you will get a good idea of how well they do with these all important channels. A real estate agent should present you with a detailed sales and marketing strategy. Generally – The more marketing, the better the result.

Sales Record & Inventory
Great agents never show up out of nowhere. It takes a long time to build a sales track record that attracts quality inventory.  Looking at an agents past successes is a good indication of their future results. What sort of homes have they sold. How long did each spend on the market and what was the sale price.

Is the price right?

Getting the price of a property right can make all the difference to the prospects of a sale. 

Your agent should provide you with a detailed Comparative Market Analysis. The best way to ensure you have the asking price right is by combining online research with this advice from agents.

There are many factors that can affect the Value of Your Property.

• Position & Comparable Sales
• Market Performance. (Supply and demand)
• Your property condition / Renovation potential
• Movements in interest rates
• infrastructure development in the area

Agent Personality
An important factor whether the agents’ personality “fits” with you.

You will be in constant contact and working closely together. If you don’t get along, it will make the process much smoother. It’s just like dating — sometimes it just comes down to chemistry.