Should I Hire a Realtor to Sell My House?

Whether you’ve verbalized it or not, when it comes to selling your home I know you’ve asked yourself if you really need an agent. When you hire a realtor, what do you expect them to do?

I’m going to tell you something that some Realtors might not want to hear, but I need to be honest with you… If you’re going to hire a real estate agent to sell your home you need to read this.

THE TRUTH ABOUT SELLING WITH AN AGENT

Sadly, many Realtors’ only plan to market your home is to list it on the MLS and to put a sign in your yard. That’s it. Thankfully working for a great company like Coldwell Banker has surrounded me with agents that go above and beyond for their clients. BUT if that is all an agent will do for your home, why would you hire them?! As a seller, you have the responsibility to find an agent that has a real plan to market and sell your home.

When you start to look for a Realtor, you need to find an agent who has a command of marketing and especially online marketing. Take the time to interview agents and see what they can do for you and your home. Getting referrals is important, but don’t take the first agent you are referred to. Interview your options and find the agent that is going to hustle, invest, and has the skill set to market & sell your home.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A REAL ESTATE MARKETING PLAN

FACEBOOK PRESENCE AND ADVERTISING

Is your agent active and present on Facebook? Are their posts regular and engaging? Can you look at their business page and see that they have an audience to share with? Straight up ask them, do you invest in Facebook advertising for your listings? What does it look like?

Also, ask about HOW they market your home socially. Is it just reposting a picture? Do they showcase their listings with videos? What do they do to grab potential buyers’ attention? Are their pictures and videos professionally taken?

ONLINE REAL ESTATE SITES

Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com, etc. are where most people go to look for and find potential homes. As agents, we have the ability to invest in upgraded packages for our listings. This ensures that our homes get placed as better locations on the sites, are seen by more people, and your home’s online presence soars! You need to be asking your potential agent about their plan on Zillow and Realtor.com.

With as big of a draw as sites like Zillow and Realtor.com are, your agent is sending a pretty bad signal if they aren’t investing in marketing on those platforms.

PERSONAL WEBSITE AND EMAIL MARKETING

Most established agents have their own website. Ask how it is utilized for your home! Does your agent use it to spread the word about each and every listing? Do they have an email list and use email marketing to showcase new homes to potential buyers?

GET THE WHOLE PACKAGE

I hope this helped you see that as we go into 2017, you don’t need just a real estate agent, you need a real estate marketer. A great agent will drive higher levels of exposure for your home and will invest in each of their listings to make sure the right buyer sees your house.

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