What is your job as the listing agent? The first thing that popped in your head was probably, “to get the house sold.”
If that’s what you thought, you’d be correct.
Your primary job as the listing agent is to get the house sold…period.
The seller is paying you a lot of money to get their house sold, make sure they get their money’s worth.
Getting the house sold means you need to do the work to get it done.
Presentation
You can’t always control the condition of the house, but help the seller understand the importance of removing all of their clutter. Buyers want to envision their belongings in a space. If the seller has too much “stuff”, buyers aren’t able to do that. Make sure the house is clean and if needed, freshly painted, carpets cleaned and professionally cleaned. The exterior of the house should look inviting otherwise potential buyers may simply do a drive-by.
Market the Property
Marketing the property is more than just putting a sign in the front yard and inputting the listing into the multiple listing service. Since most home searches begin online, you want to make sure you have beautiful pictures of the property. Hire a professional photographer. Period. No matter what type of smartphone you have, it can’t compare with how a professional photographer will shoot the property. A professional knows the right angles and lighting to make the property look its’ best. Whatever you do, don’t put a listing on the market without pictures. It shows your lack of professionalism, plus you limit the number of interested buyers because they have no idea what the property looks like. When inputting the property into your MLS make sure you do a thorough job. Other sites will be pulling from the MLS, so you want to make sure that what you input is accurate and tells the consumer all about the property. Check out the various online sites where you can advertise the property and increase the exposure. You want as many eyes on the property the first week as possible.
Communication is Key
Real estate agents are disseminators of information.
We need to communicate effectively and often with a variety of people and personalities.
As the listing agent you will have agents calling you either to show the property or to get more information on the property.
When you take their call, act like you are happy they called.
Many agents answer the phone and it feels like you’re actually bothering them.
Trust and believe they aren’t calling you to be your new best friend. They want information on your listing.
If an agent leaves a message, call them back in a timely manner.
One of these agents could have the buyer for your listing.
Treat them with professionalism and respect.
Communication is KeyShow the Property
There may be times when a buyer calls you instead of their agent and want to see the listing. If their agent is on vacation, in the hospital or some other reason, show the property. Yes, the buyer’s agent should have a back-up for their client to call, but obviously that’s not the case. That’s why they are calling you. It’s in your seller’s best interest for you to show the property. Stop the complaining and show the property. This could be the very person to put in an offer.
Present All Offers
The Code of Ethics states that Realtors are to present all offers to the seller. It doesn’t matter what you think of the offer. The price, the terms. It doesn’t matter. Present the offer to the seller in a positive manner and let them make a decision. They may have told you what they would or wouldn’t accept, but people change their minds all the time. If your client is “offended” by a low offer it may be tempting for them to reject it. Tell them to make a counter offer. Neither one of you knows what the potential buyer was thinking. Maybe they’re just testing the waters. Even if the counter offer is at the list price. Make a counter offer. A low offer is better than no offer.Handling Multiple Offers
Most sellers want to have more than one offer, but for agents, one good offer is enough. Because they can be overwhelming, prepare the seller for how multiple offers are handled and how long it can take to review the offers. Communicate to agents when you will be presenting offers to the seller and when you expect the seller to make a decision. Once the seller has made their decision and the winning offer has signed off, call or email the agents who submitted offers but were not selected. They have clients who are anxiously awaiting for a response.Do the Work
Listings are an agents dream in a seller’s market. But even in a seller’s market you need to do the work to get the house sold. Market the property, show the property and negotiate the property. Treat the buyer and the buyer’s agent with respect and be professional at all times. If you aren’t willing to do all of these things, for the sake of Realtors everywhere, don’t take the listing. Be prosperous!Enjoy less stress by having smoother transactions by implementing these simple strategies today!
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As an active Realtor licensed in three jurisdictions, I approach real estate training from a different perspective. With over 18 years in the real estate business, I teach agents what it’s really like to be a real estate agent.
