Choosing to sell your home is a major life decision. Finding the right real estate agent to best represent your investment is vital in order to help you navigate the complicated world of real estate. The right agent will keep your best interests in mind, ensuring that you have a smooth, stress-free transaction while showing your property off to its best advantage.

Here are some of the qualities to look for in a real estate agent:

Experience

An experienced real estate agent may be able to market your home more effectively, having sold homes like yours in the past. Find out:

How long they have worked in the real estate industry.

What type of training courses they have completed.

Do they hold a current license for professional real estate agents?

What their sales volume in the past year was.

How many clients they are currently working with.

Whether they have ever been the subject of a disciplinary action?

Are they a listing agent or a buyer’s agent? If both, what is their percentage of listing sales to buyer sales?

If they have a list of references you could call and a list of testimonials you could review.

Would another professional real estate agent vouch for their business practices and integrity?

About their network of other productive agents from other firms they work with?

What they would say are their strongest attributes as an agent?

Choose an agent who is professional, organized, and efficient.

Skill Level and Education

Factors to consider when looking at a real estate agent’s skill level include:

Their knowledge of the small administrative details included in real estate contracts.

Their knowledge of the more technical side of the industry, such as inspections, title deeds, and appraisals.

Are they keeping up to date on changes in technology and real estate law by furthering their education?

Market Knowledge

By choosing a real estate agent who specializes in your region, you’ll benefit from having a professional who knows all of the comparable homes for sale and the history of the neighbourhood. A good real estate agent will have first-hand knowledge of the parks, schools, and other amenities that are particular to your district.

Key Business Beliefs

Integrity and Honesty above all else.

Communication is vital to client satisfaction.

Selling your home requires attention, energy, creative marketing, knowledge, and follow through.

Pay attention not only to their experience and technical skill, but also their personality and how they make you feel. If you feel comfortable around them, chances are that buyers will too. It is ideal to find an estate agent who has your best interests in mind, and who will work hard to represent these interests.

Work Ethic

Real estate agents must rise to meet the demands of a complex and ever-changing industry. This involves working odd hours at times to accommodate the needs of buyers, who may only be available to view homes on weekends or during evening hours. You’ll want to find a real estate agent who is willing to go the extra mile and work hard to sell your property.

Before signing the contract, consider:

How prompt they are at returning emails and phone calls.

If they are willing to base inspections and open houses around your schedule.

How flexible they are should your plans change?

How busy they are with other clients and transactions? It’s best to choose someone who will have the time needed to give your property the level of attention it deserves.

What business hours their office keeps.

What processes are needed to be put into place to cancel the contract should you be unhappy with performance?

Resources and Contacts

A major benefit to hiring a real estate agent is that they can give you access to their wealth of knowledge, personal contacts, and professional marketing abilities. Good real estate agents have a wealth of resources to help you throughout the selling process.

Some of these resources to inquire about include:

Do they have a website both currently online and regularly updated?

Do they use social media, blogging, or other online marketing techniques?

How many forms of marketing can they employ to make a sale?

How many photographs will be used to share your home with buyers?

What further connections do they have within the real estate industry? These could include marketing teams, other agencies, prior clients, or brokers.

Can you see examples of current or previous advertising projects?

A multi-pronged approach to marketing your property ensures that the widest targeted audience of potential buyers has access to your home.

Attention to Detail

Detail is everything when it comes to real estate transactions. You want to be sure that your real estate agent is able to prove that they are well organized and able to spot the fine print that others could potentially miss. This includes attention to using time effectively, juggling multiple tasks, and drafting a contract that omits no details.