Three Important Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Real Estate Agent . . .

  

By Ron Rovtar

The K Company Realty
Boulder County CO

303.981.1617

Real estate agents are not all the same.

Agents  bring different attitudes, skills, personalities and ideas about customer service.

Some agents are better marketers. Others excel in negotiations. Some agents are magnificent problem solvers. Others are adept at managing all the people involved in a transaction –– mortgage brokers,  inspectors, appraisers, closing company personnel, etc.

So it is important to ask a lot of questions before hiring any agent to sell what is probably your biggest financial asset.

Here are three questions that will help a lot:

1) What makes your services worth the money you will charge me?  This question usually is on every home seller's mind. Yet it rarely is asked. Don't be afraid! It is a valid question. Unfortunately, it often is answered the wrong way, or at best, in an incomplete way. Agents usually talk about financial risks they take with every listing. They talk about their expenses, experience, and education. These factors do play into their commission expectations.  But such answers do not tell you why you should pay what they ask. So you may need a follow-up question like: "How will you bring this much value to my real estate transaction?" "Value" is the operative word here.

2) How will you negotiate the best selling price and conditions?  Notice that this and the other questions here are all "open-ended," meaning they cannot be fully answered by a word, a simple phrase or a number. So don't accept simple answers like, "I'm a tough bargainer," or, "I'm a win-win person." Ask for  details and be suspicious if the agent cannot tell you exactly what "tough bargaining" or "win-win." means to him or her.  Ask for real life examples.

3) How will we communicate?  This may be the most important question of all! In today's technology-saturated world, it is entirely possible you will never physically see your agent between the day you sign a listing agreement and the closing table. E-mails, e-signatures and phone conversations can help move things along, but hashing things out in person almost always improves results significantly.  So you want to know you will regularly see your agent in person during important phases of the process.

You will have other questions, of course. But these three will get you a very good idea about how an agent really works. They also will help you decide if the agent is a good match for you.

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Ron Rovtar, is a broker associate at The K Company Realty in Boulder, CO. Please call Ron with all your questions. Call him at 303.981.1617.  To learn more about Ron, please visit his website. For more about life in Boulder County and nearby, check out our facebook page. Ron Rovtar does business as Front Range Real Estate, Ltd.  

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