What to Ask Before Hiring an Agent to Sell Your Property

One of the most common things we hear as top-producing real estate agents is about how homeowners had neglected to properly interview the agent they had for their home. To help avoid that from happening, here are some factors to consider before you hire a real estate agent to sell your home.

 

Amount of Time Devoted to Profession

The real estate industry is one that can be very flexible for some yet completely encompassing for others. Your challenge will be to look for an agent that has made the profession their full-time career. The difference will be in the amount of time you can expect them to give you and the expertise level you can expect in return.

Level of Demonstrated Expertise

Experience comes from working with multiple clients in many different situations. As you interview prospective agents, take the time to inquire about past and current clients. Find out about the types of deals the agent specializes in. Are they specifically geared toward buyers or do they have experience with listing transactions? Don’t be afraid to check whether they are good at their job through references.

Length of Time Other Listings Remain on Market

Look into the length of time other listings they have taken have remained on the market. If you see a predominantly long number of days their properties sit on the market then it might indicate a lax marketing strategy – or worse, none at all. Marketing is a key component that you should be looking for and if a prospective agent lacks a viable marketing plan, you may want to think twice about that agent.

List to Sale Ratios

A lot of agents use less than scrupulous tactics to gain sellers’ business. One example is promising their clients higher selling prices only to disappoint their clients when the market dictates their home is worth less. Look for an agent’s list-to-sale ratios on other listings they have had. Are they being sold at or at least very close to the listing price? If not, it could be an indication of bad pricing advice or worse, evidence of those sneaky tactics to reel in business.

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Keep in mind that these are just a few of the things that impact the success rate of a strong real estate agent. What you need also to be looking for is a winning combination of character, values, tech-savvy and market-smart techniques. No two attributes will be enough – rather it is essential that you feel comfortable with your agent, can trust them and are fairly certain that they deliver on their promises.

4 Tips to Preparing Your House for Sale

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Google “selling a home” and you’ll end up with millions of hits with tips, tricks, to-dos and what not to-dos. But if you can see past all the fluff and get right down to the bottom line, you confirm that all you really want as a seller is top dollar and you want it fast.

Frank Del Rio & Associates knows the business of selling homes and we’ve been through it in all types of markets. Buyer-centric markets tend to make it necessary for sellers to pull out all stops while a sellers’ market like we are experiencing these days dictates something else altogether.

Here is our four-point strategy that we think you need to be doing to prepare your house for sale. Nothing else. It doesn’t need to be complicated. It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Being in the amazing market that we are in right now – you don’t have to do that much!

Bring It Up to Code
Read up online (or ask us) to find out the standard items that home inspectors look for – then go get it done in your house. Make sure the home complies with safety and building code and if not, hire a contractor to get it done. Some things are easily resolved yourself such as replacing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors or ensuring your water heater is properly strapped in place.

Let There Be Light (and Air)
One of the first things buyers look for is the flow of a house. Not only does this apply to the floor plan but also in terms of how much light and air flows through the space. The last thing you want to do is to have a buyer walk away because they were unable to see the potential in a home if it wasn’t set up right. Make sure you open windows, highlight open spaces and stage the house so buyers can see all that it has to offer.

Break Out the Broom
Have you ever walked into a dirty or cluttered space and felt good? Of course not! So when you’re selling your home keep buyers’ impressions in mind as walk through the house. Are there piles of stuff lying around everywhere? Make your home inviting and welcoming with the simple step of cleaning it up, making it fresh and allowing buyers to visualize their own lives in the space.

Don’t Go Into Overdrive
One of the biggest mistakes sellers make is to renovate, rebuild and remodel before selling their home. The problem with that is that buyers may or may not like your choices. Rather than the money being recovered in your sale price as you would have wanted, renovating often backfires and turns buyers off. No need for overkill – just sprucing up the place with some simple decorating and staging changes will do the trick. And if there is a serious need for updating – reflect it in the price so buyers can make their own design choices.

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Aside from the obvious steps to take when preparing your home for sale – the most important thing you can do is to align yourself with a really strong real estate team that will get the job done! Contact us today for a free home value report and for a walk-through with some more suggestions for your home. Remember – Frank gets it done!

It's a Sellers Market in Southern California and That Means You Get Top Dollar

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Have you been sitting around waiting patiently to sell your home? For years now, we’ve been waiting for a better time in the market, a time when sellers can expect to get top dollar for their home. Well folks – the time is NOW! The SoCal real estate market is brimming with buyer activity and that can mean only one thing for sellers that are eager to cash in on the opportunity. That’s right! The market is rife with opportunity for sellers to get the most for their home and with the market as it is right now, they are getting it done in an easy, hassle-free way.

Ninety Percent of Homes Sold Are Getting Multiple Offers
Believe it or not, nine out of ten homes sold in the month of March & April drew multiple bids. In some cases, especially for homes that are priced right, in good shape and in a great location – as many as 5, 10 or more buyers were vying for the same property. As a seller, the advantage of this kind of housing shortage is that YOU get to pocket a LOT more money than otherwise. Seems like yesterday when we had an overabundance of homes and not enough buyers out there looking.

Many Sellers These Days End Up Over Asking Price
Another benefit of a seller’s market that we’re seeing a lot of our clients enjoy is MORE MONEY! When you have multiple people interested in your home, of course you can expect them to drive the price up as they compete against each other. This is great for our clients because you can expect to yield a LOT more than you had expected in the first place!

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If you are in an equity position on a home in Southern California and selling may be something you are considering – it’s critical to align yourself with a top-notch, experienced, go-getter team to get the job done and get you the most money! Frank Del Rio & Associates is THE professional team to get it done. If you or anyone you know, whether a friend, family member, neighbor, or someone in your social community, is looking to sell or buy a home – let us know today.