Questions to Ask Your Agent

I have heard horror stories about agents that list houses for sell and put it in the MLS and then do nothing further to market the property and the seller cannot get in touch with the agent for weeks at a time.  These are questions that I confidently answer for my clients and any strong listing agent should be able to anPeople have asked me, “How do I know what agent to use?”  My best advice is to interview several agents and use one that is a good negotiator, uses online and traditional marketing skills, and will follow up with leads and keep the seller informed. 

These are questions that an agent should be able to answer for you:

1.  How are you going to showcase my home to stand out from the competition?

2.  In this online world that we live in, what are you going to do to make my home “findable” online?

3.  How will you make my home “findable” to people moving in from out of town?

4.  Will you include video tours online?

5.  Will you use tagged keywords for google to pick up and distribute over the internet to make the listing easily searchable?

6.   Do you have your own website where you market the property?  How many viewers do you get per month on average?

7.  Is your custom website search engine friendly and optimized for a buyer looking in this are to find it?

8.  Fo you offer a home warranty?

9.  Do you offer home staging?

10. What traditional marketing do you do?

11. How do you advertise open houses?

12. Do you do Realtor open houses?

13. Do you send out efliers to other Realtors in the area advertising the listing?

14. What online advertising are you doing?

15. What is the absorption rate for the area?

I tell my clients why they should list with me over any other agent in Houston.  Here’s the short list that sets me apart from other Realtors:

1.  I have my own iPhone App that allows buyers and sellers to search my website for all of the homes for sale in Houston and easily call or email me anytime from their cell phone.

2.  I offer my selling clients a Seller Services Guarantee so they know how hard I will be working for them.

3.  I have been awarded “The Best Real Estate Blog in Texas” by Texas A&M University

4.  I have Realtor Designations & Certificates that you can find on my website

5.  I use all the social media available

6.  I provide all showing feedback to my sellers

7.  I provide unparalleled accessability to the agent

8.  Offer quality home warranty

9.  I offer yard signs with instant communication with potential buyers

10.  Custom marketing plan for every seller

And much more!

"Questions to Ask Your Agent" was originally posted as a blog post at Shannon Register, Realtor^® on February 5, 2010.

Shannon Register, Realtor^® named "Best Real Estate Blog in Texas by the Mays Business School Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University.

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