Real Estate Agents & Realtors – A Comprehensive Guide to Finding the Right one.

Recognizing “Red Flags” In A Realtor!

Choosing the right realtor is critical and too often we see people select their real estate agent for the wrong reasons.

Listing With A Realtor Who Presents The Highest Listing Price.

Of course you want to sell your house for the most money possible? But choosing the Realtor who suggests the highest price could be a big mistake. Unfortunately, there are some realtors who will tell a seller a higher price than market value, just to secure the listing. When the home fails to sell, they begin the process of trying to get price reductions. Your home ends up being on the market longer than it should and often sells for much less than it would have if priced correctly at the start.

Listing With An Out of Area Real Estate Agent.

It is critical that the Realtor or Agent you work with is someone who is an expert in your city, area, town or neighborhood. Real Estate Market conditions often vary from area to area.  Your real estate agent must have intricate and detailed knowledge about your neighborhood and understands the Vancouver area!! Your realtor must be able to inform potential buyers about all the community advantages:

Listing with a Realtor Who is Not Experienced.

Many sellers do not know the questions they should ask a realtor before working with them. This is understandable, because you might not have sold a home for a long time! There are 8 critical questions to ask your Real Estate Agent or Realtor. These questions will help you to ensure that the realtor you hire is an expert in the four keys areas. An amateur in any of these areas will be costly to you.

Listing With a Realtor Who Contacts You and Says They Have a Buyer for your Home.

Most of the time the realtor does not in fact have a specific buyer for your home, and is just trying to get you to list with them. If they do have a buyer, it could be a costly mistake to sell your home to that buyer. Here’s why.

The power of putting your home on the Multiple Listing Service, or MLS  is that your home will be exposed to all 14,000 realtors and all of their buyers.  Chances are if there is one interested buyer for your home there very well could be more. This is the power of the MLS!

Overview Of Realtors

It might be helpful to give you an overview of the real estate industry. The process in becoming a realtor or Vancouver real estate agent involves :

• Completing a correspondence course that often takes less than six months.
• Taking a written exam that requires a minimum passing grade of sixty-five percent.
• Followed by a week of post-exam courses at the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

Thousands of new realtors enter the industry every year. However, the dropout rate for new realtors is very high. Many leave the industry in the first year and by the end of five years, often fewer than forty percent remain.

It is also very revealing to look at the breakdown of the number of transactions done by licensed realtors.

In 2016, there were over 13,000 realtors in the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

Of those 13,000 realtors, 28% (3,700) did not do a single transaction! Hard to believe, isn’t it?

We have discussed the importance of pricing your home correctly and the dangers of overpricing. Experienced realtors spend much of their time studying the current market conditions and real estate market trends so that they can give you laser clear and accurate information when you are ready to sell your home.

The two most common marketing tools used by many realtors are print advertising and holding open houses. The truth is that neither of these tools are very effective at getting your home sold.

Ninety-five percent of buyers look at homes online.

So doesn’t it make logical sense that the most important marketing of your home should happen online? Many realtors attempt to use mediums such as websites, Facebook, blogs, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The key though is to use these mediums effectively by mastering how to drive buyers to these sites and effectively market your home to them! This is a skill that requires dedication of time and resources to master, something that many realtors do not focus on.

In fact, the first showings of your home are occurring on-line! When a buyer physically comes to view your home, that is actually the second showing. This is why professional photographs, accurate information on your home, detailed floor plans, and a great description of your home are critical. You would be amazed at the number of listings on the MLS that have horrible photos and inaccurate information!

The difference between a skilled negotiator and an amateur working for you on the sale of your home is likely tens of thousands of dollars! We see the results of poor negotiating far too often. Sometimes, it is a brand new real estate agent who does not have experience. Other times, it is realtors who have been in the business a long time but do very little business. One of your absolute ‘must have’ criteria for working with a realtor must be someone who is a highly skilled negotiator.

Negotiating is an art form with many layers. It involves clear and effective communication and having the ability to read non-verbal cues. It is critical to create an atmosphere of trust and respect with all parties involved. As well, it involves knowing the legalities of real estate and never crossing the line ‘just to get the deal done’. And of course, it requires a laser clear knowledge of exactly what is going on in the market with a negotiating strategy for that specific market.

We are continually striving to make our strong negotiating skills better yet! We recently spent two days at an event focused solely on negotiating. Most realtors do not want to spend the time or money on these events, but we are firm believers that there is always more to learn!

Well-written contracts are critical. Sloppy and incomplete contracts can result in transactions falling apart which can lead to expensive legal nightmares. There are many people involved in a real estate transaction such as realtors, lawyers, banks, appraisers, and inspectors. There are hundreds of phone calls, texts, and emails that occur. There is a saying, ‘the devil is in the details’ and this is so true in real estate. Your realtor needs to have systems and checklists to make sure that no detail is missed and that every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed.  Look for that type of Realtor.

Buying or Selling a home in the Greater Vancouver Area and find it daunting and painful, you are not alone. Many home buyers feel the frustration of getting locked out of real estate opportunities in Greater Vancouver. For assistance or any questions you may have, we encourage you to give us a call. We are happy to help, 604-240-1540