April 2017 // Real Estate & Home Builders Guide // 3E
THINKSTOCK
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FINDING THE BEST
AGENT MEANS FINDING
THE BEST FIT FOR YOU
By Ilyce Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin
Tribune Content Agency
: How do I fi nd the best real estate
agent? And, how do I choose
which real estate agent to use?
I’m learning a lot going through
the process of “properly” selling my
house. I interviewed fi ve real estate
agents the Saturday before last, and
I was amazed by the range of differ-
ences in their attitudes and approaches
to selling real estate.
The real estate agent I selected
seems to be the most aggressive in
terms of her advice for preparing the
house, marketing the house and just
generally wanting the listing. She
sent a staging expert to my house
who suggested I replace all the door
hardware, replace all seven ceiling
fans, remove all the window screens
and replace the countertops in the
kitchen. This kind of work is going to
cost a bunch of money.
Is it smart to follow the advice
of this real estate agent or just offer
money back with the house to let the
new owner pick those things?
Q
: Let’s start with your real
question: How do you fi nd the
best real estate agent? And, it isn’t
just about fi nding the best real estate
agent in town, it’s fi nding the best fi t
for you.
Whenever we talk to home sellers,
we advise them to interview at least
three or four different real estate
agents because, as you’ve noted,
each will have an entirely different
approach to the process of selling a
home. (You’ve gone beyond that and
interviewed fi ve different people, but
still found that they all had different
approaches and thoughts about your
home.)
Real estate agents, like people, are
motivated by different things. Some
will say or do anything to get your
listing, even going as far as to promise
you a “pie in the sky” price that they
predict you’ll collect at the closing
table. Some try to be honest about
where the local marketplace is, hoping
that you’ll fi nd their honest approach
appealing. Some will take a data-
driven approach and show you what
else is selling in the neighborhood,
A
and then break that down into price/
amenity and compare your home with
other comps.
What type of real estate agent
should you want? The best real estate
agent will match your temperament.
So if, for example, you’re a laid-back
sort of soul, you probably don’t want
someone cracking the whip and
making you feel like a failure if you
have a piece of lint on the fl oor. If
you don’t smoke, you shouldn’t hire
a smoker. If you are detail oriented,
don’t hire a real estate agent who is
disorganized.
In general, when you are looking
to hire a real estate agent, you’ll want
to invite a handful into your home to
do a comparative marketing analysis
(CMA). The CMA will dig into other
homes that are similar to yours that
are currently on the market as well
as those that have sold in the last six
months. These are normally referred
to as “comps.” The best real estate
agent will have analyzed all of the
comps, compared your home to those,
developed a sophisticated marketing
plan for getting your home sold (and
maximizing buyer interest), and
provided a suggested list price.
Now let’s turn to your situation:
The agent you hired is, by your
defi nition, “aggressive.” She clearly
thinks that to sell your home would
benefi t from a few improvements. The
question you need to ask is, “How
much money will I get from the house
if I don’t make these improvements vs.
if I do make them?” If you estimate
that the cost of making these changes
is $10,000, and the agent thinks
you’ll be able to up your sales price
by $25,000, and sell your home in
an instant, then we think you should
make the changes as quickly as
possible. On the other hand, if the cost
of the changes she wants is $10,000
but she doesn’t think you’ll get a dime
out of it, nor does she think it will sell
that much faster, then it’s a tougher
call.
The best real estate agent for
you is the one who is going to help
you understand, in as kind a way
as possible, what you have to do in
order to get your home sold as fast as
possible, for the most money possible.