3$*( 5($/(67$7(+20(%8,/'(56*8,'(-8/<
Fin d the b est agen t to sell you r hom e
Tribune M edia Services --
June 13, 20 15
By Ilyce G lin k a n d
S a m u el J. Ta m kin ,
Trib u n e C on ten t Ag en cy
Rea l Esta te M a tters
: I am abou t to start
Q
interview ing real estate
ag ents, as I am planning to list
m y hom e for sale. H ow do I
find the top perform ing ag ents
in m y zip code?
W hen I search for real estate
ag ents and brok ers on the
Internet, I g et a list of “m iddle-
m an” com panies. I am
considering talk ing to a
discou nt brok er, bu t the m odel
m ak es m e nervou s becau se I
don’t com pletely u nderstand
how it w ork s.
I w ant to list the hou se and then
sit back have the ag ent/
com pany do the w ork . T he
hou se w ill be listed for m ore
than $400,000.
A
: T he Internet is g reat for so
m any thing s bu t at tim es
you ju st can’t g et the rig ht
inform ation or the inform ation
you need. W hat you ’re ru nning
into are com panies that have
m ade a fortu ne g enerating
“leads” for real estate ag ents
and brok ers. You ’re being
driven to their pag e by search
eng ine optim ization or perhaps
ads that have been pu rchased
targ eting you . It’s not a g reat
w ay to pick an ag ent.
H ere’s how to start: D rive
arou nd and look at w ho is
listing hom es sim ilar to you rs
in you r neig hborhood. C all
som e of these com panies on the
phone and either ask for the
ag ents w ho have listed the
properties or ask to speak to the
m anag ing brok er. You can
discu ss w ith the m anag ing
brok er w hich specific ag ents
have the hig hest nu m ber of
sales for you r neig hborhood. A t
least that w ay you ’ll be talk ing
to som eone w ho is active in
you r neig hborhood. You r zip
code m ay be far too larg e to g et
you the rig ht person.
You shou ld also k now that
having the “top” perform ing
person, that person cou ld be
som eone w ith few actu al sales
bu t seriou sly hig h sales prices.
W ou ld you w ant a person that
has done 100 sales in the
$400,000 price rang e or the
person that has done 10 sales in
the $4,000,000 rang e? T hey
both m ig ht show u p as having
the sam e perform ance bu t the
first one m ig ht k now you r
m ark et far better than the u ppe r
end m ark et real estate ag ent.
You can also find ou t if sm aller
com panies are su ccessfu l in
you r
neig hborhood. Ju st
becau se the ag ency is sm all on a
national scale doesn’t m ean that
they m ig ht not be rig ht for you
and you r neig hborhood. It’s
possible that there is one
particu lar brok erag e hou se that
has done qu ite w ell in you r
neig hborhood and is w ell
k now n for its listing s there. If
so, you m ig ht w ant to find ou t
w ho w ork s you r area and talk to
them . (A g ain, drive arou nd and
jot dow n the nam es of
com panies and ag ents w ho are
cu rrently listing property in
you r neig hborhood.)
either list the hom e and have
you show it, or charg e you for
each item you have them do.
O nce you interview several
ag ents, you can ask them to
com e over and see w hat they
have to say abou t you r hom e,
the neig hborhood and the
m ark et. You can ask them to
prepare a com parative m ark et
analysis (C M A ) and to g ive a
recom m endation as to w hat
they w ou ld think the listing
price shou ld be for you r hom e.
It seem s to u s that you are
look ing for a fu ll service
com pany to help you sell you r
hom e. G ood lu ck .
O nce you have all that
inform ation, you can m ak e a
sm arter decision and choose an
ag ent w ho is a g ood fit.
A s for u sing a discou nt brok er,
w e don’t think that one w ill be
a g ood choice for you . You said
you w ant to sit back and have
the listing brok er do all the
w ork . W ith that said, m ost
discou nt brok ers w ill have you
do som e of the w ork . T hey m ay
(Ilyce G link is the creator of an
18-part w ebinar+ebook series
called
“T he
Intentional
Investor: H ow to be w ildly
su ccessfu l in real estate,” as w ell
as the au thor of m any book s on
real estate. She also hosts the
“R eal E state M inu te,” on her
You Tu be channel. Sam u el J.
Tam k in is a C hicag o-based real
estate attorney. C ontact Ilyce
and Sam throu g h her w ebsite
think g link .com .)
(c) 2015 IL YC E R . G L IN K
A N D SA M U E L J. TA M K IN .
D IST R IBU T E D BY T R IBU N E
C O N T E N T A G E N C Y, L L C .