subject: Homes For Sale Wichita: How To Interview And Hire The Best Realtor For Your New Home Listing [print this page] You often hear horror stories about dishonest agents in the news coverage. This is because honesty and integrity quite frankly just arent newsworthy. You need to know that about 10 percent of the realtors in the business handle about 90 percent of the homes for sale in Wichita and overall in other areas as well. It stands to reason then, that these top 10 percent of are likely to be realtor agents you can trust to do a great job.
After all, the bottom line is that real estate is all about selling. Sometimes sales persons get a bad rap in stereotypes, but there are many professions that rely on good sales skills to get their jobs done. Realtors are no exception. Whether they have a new home for sale or existing homes listings, the final thing that determines whether a home sells in Wichita, Kansas is the marketing and effective sales strategies of the realtor.
Beyond the hype and glamor of the real estate business, a good home listing realtor lives and dies by the marketing strategies he or she puts in place. If you have area homes for sale, then you are going to want a realtor that is likable, well spoken and organized. Additionally, if your Wichita home listing is in a hard-to-sell neighborhood, you also want to hire a realtor that lives in or near the area so that the agent has first-hand knowledge of the area.
To ensure you hire a competent realtor, interview several of them. Putting up your home for sale with a listing realtor is a big decision. Your home investment is likely the largest your family owns and you want to protect this investment. Interviewing prospective Wichita realtors helps your home listing gain exposure. If you conduct several interviews in your Wichita area home, you will gain valuable exposure. Most homes are not sold by the listing agent, but by another realtor that splits the sale on the home listing.
There are some common characteristics that home owners desire in the realtor they choose to market a new home for sale. Beyond the characteristics listed below, no one single tactic or characteristic sells homes. It is generally a combination of these that ultimately decides whether your home listing in Wichita, KS sells quickly or sits on the market.
Some basic necessary characteristics are as follows:
1. Experience If you are not told directly and cant easily spot the realtors number of years in the business, it is generally because they have little or less than five years experience. And experienced listing agent is able to anticipate problems or prevent them from manifesting because they have learned how to handle most any difficulty that may come with homes for sale in the area. Sometimes a realtor has access to a more seasoned realtor as their mentor and in this case, you will have to use good judgment.
2. Education Do not be afraid to ask for a prospective Wichita realtor to give you their license number and certifications. You can actually check the original license date with the Kansas real estate licensing division by doing a license verification. Most states will also list any complaints that may have been filed against an agent.
3. Communication/Marketing You will want to hire a Wichita realtor that you feel is a good communicator and will be available on a regular basis. It will be important to nail down the marketing plan of your realtor as it relates to your particular home listing. Minimum items to expect are:
- Professional signage with a cell phone number
- Lockbox with daily monitoring
- Four-color flyers
- Weekly advertising in Wichita newspapers and major papers & distribution to major websites
- Minimum of 2 open houses
- Staging advice
- Virtual tour
- Updates on neighborhood facts, trends and recent sales
- Broker previews
- Weekly reporting to the seller
4. Honesty Trust your intuition when it comes to the sale of your home and the realtor you are interviewing. An honest agent will likely have most of their business coming from referrals that other satisfied clients. Ask for referrals from friends and family or for references from the prospective agent. Successful realtors go above and beyond making customer satisfaction their number one priority for that particular clients home listing. Lastly, an honest agent will be willing to guarantee their work, not the selling price, but their performance as your agent.
5. Negotiating and Networking You want to list your home with a Wichita realtor that is known for their good negotiating skills, not the agent you makes a quick sale at the expense of the sellers best interest. A successful agent is generally well connected in the community and well known. This is not always the agent that advertises the most so dont be fooled by big advertising budgets. Ask around and ask for records of home sales and the original home listing prices.
