If you are in the market to sell your home, your first step and which is often your last step is to call me. I’m not bragging, I’m applying for a job. One thing I do is to explain to you the benefits of staging and preparing your home for sale, and even helping. How about that! I will also tell you the truth about how your home is prepared for market and tell you what you need to do to get the highest price for your home. Unfortunately, having a clean home ready to sell is not always good enough in the eyes of a buyer.
I recommend you talk to at least two agents and have them each to visit you and walk through your home. Ask the agent if they have any testimonials from clients that you could see and if you could contact those clients and ask how there experience was with the Realtor. The prepared agent will bring information with them about recent comparable sales, will help you price your home, and they should suggest low-cost upgrades that will boost your home’s value and help it sell more quickly if needed. But most importantly you really need to feel a connection/compatibility with the agent you decide on. This person is going to be working with you from start to finish and acting and negotiating on your behalf. I would think you would want that person to think like you do. I don’t sugar coat anything. You expect and deserve professional and truthful advice, and that’s what you get from me.
Find out if the real estate agent is a full-time agent or not. Full-time agents are more likely to be tuned in to what’s going on in the market that will influence your home’s sales price and be more up to date on current rules and regulations in the industry than a part timer. Second, full-time agents most likely have access to bigger networks of other real estate agents and marketing dollars they can tap into to help get your home sold.
You may want to find out if the agents you are talking to have completed any specialized training or earned any industry designations. It will help you get a sense of their qualifications and expertise.
I’m always continually furthering my experience, education, knowledge and negotiating skills in Real Estate. In 2011 I received my Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource (SFR) Certification by the National Association of Realtors. In 2014 I went to the next level and obtained my Real Estate Brokers license. I currently have my Accredited Buyer’s Representation (ABR) Designation, (MRP) Military Relocation Professional Designation, (SFR) Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource Designation along with obtaining on my Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI) Designation. I’m a member of the Arizona Association of Realtors, National Association of Realtors, Southeast Valley Regional Association of Realtors, and the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council.
Ask agents how they’d market your home. A good real estate agent will tell you the best way to market your home. I have several marketing plans and strategies to get your home out in front for buyers to find, see and BUY.
Thank you for the opportunity and best wishes on selling your home.
Rod Schwalb
MRP-Military Relocation Professional
GRI-Graduate Realtor Institute
ABR-Accredited Buyer’s Representative
SFR- Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource Certified
