Checklist: Hiring a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your House

When it comes to selling your house fast and getting the highest possible return on investment, it is suggested that you only hire a real estate agent for such a task. This is because they have connections with a lot of potential buyers and can make the selling process easy hassle-free. 

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There is no shortage of real estate agents striving to provide their services through online marketing, mailing postcard, ad by putting yard signs. But, with saturation in this industry, it has become a difficult task to get connected with the right one. Don't worry, in this article, we've managed to compile a real estate agent seller checklist that'll help you find and hire the best one out of the rest. 

Checklist: Hiring A Real Estate Agent 

To be honest, selling a house is no small feat. It is perhaps one of the biggest and important financial decisions that you are going to make. This is why finding and hiring the real estate agency with an ample amount of experience to provide guidance is vital. 

In order to sell your house quickly, you'll have to hire a real estate agent, and the below given real estate agent seller checklist will help you in finding and hiring one of the top real estate agents in town. So, keep on reading until the end to get the most out of it.

#1: Can They Explain the House Selling Process?

The selling of the house can often be a long and tedious process for the first time house sellers. This is why you need to ask your agents to explain the process from the start until the end so that you do not get mislead in between.

#2: What Is The Best Way To Contact You? 

Keep in mind that your real estate agent should never be out of touch. This is because the market is highly competitive and waiting for an hour or so for a response can mean that you might lose a potential customer for the house. This is perhaps the most important tip in our real estate agent seller checklist.  

#3: When Are You Available? 

You should always confirm from the real estate agent their availability to show the potential customers your house. Ask them what is the time best suited for them so that you can also be available at that time. If your agent is busy on weekends, you need to keep that into consideration too. 

#4: Can You See The CMA Of The House? 

The CMA stands for “comparative market analysis”. The CMA basically means that your agent will be looking 10 or more properties in your neighborhood and determine that the best value for your house. CMA is important to see if you're underpricing the house or overpricing it.

#5: Is There Any Red Flags Of The House? 

A reliable real estate agent will first inspect the condition of the house and let you know if the house has any structural issues. If your house has some issues, the buyers will not consider as an option. So, get benefits from the inspection skills of the agents and see if your house has any red flags. 

#6: What Offer Will Guarantee The House? 

If you’re listing your house in the competitive market, an offer too low will not catch the eyes of the seller. Whereas, if you are listing your house in a market where negotiation is possible you do not want to price the house too high. 

So, ask the agents the right price for your house. 

#7: What Concessions Could Be Offered? 

A concession if a fee that you’ll have to pay for anything as a compromise to the potential buyer of the house. The concession can often range from the sellers paying to repair something that was caught during the inspection of the house. 

#8: Should There Be An Earnest Money Offer? 

Earnest money is a deposit that is paid when a buyer enters into a contract for buying a house. Consider the earnest money as a token for the house. It is not highly recommended that you opt for earnest money if your house is listed in a seller's market. 

#9: What Happens When The Inspector Finds Something? 

Keep this real estate agent checklist point on the top of your head. There is nothing much worse than finding your house has structural damage during the house inspection. So, because asking the agent to list your house, get it thoroughly inspected by them. If any issues arise, you need to discuss with them as to how they'll handle it. 

#10: What Happens If The House Appraises Under Selling Price?

If you think that appraises of the house are low, you do not need to worry at all. You can always ask your real estate agent for their recommended strategies. 

#11: What Will Be The Closing Cost? 

The closing cost is in actual expenses that are involved in buying the house. This cost is not included in the price of the house you plan on buying. This includes the fees of the attorney, the lender cost, the fee of title, and the list goes on. However, this cost is for the buyer to pay, so, you can have peace of mind.

That's not all that you're going to learn in this comprehensive article. We've also gathered a list of a few reasons why hiring them is crucial. 

Reasons To Hire A Real Estate Agent

Hiring a real estate agent for selling your house is a win-win situation for both. However, their reasons might be different from yours.

#1: It Is All About Money 

When it comes to listing your house, it is well understood that you’ll want as much money as possible for the house, right? And you’ll be thinking of not parting with the extra real estate agents commission. To be honest, you are going to pay the commission anyways if the buyer is being represented by a real estate agent. However, the commission has already been altered in the deal; so you’ll be saving the commission from here. But, if you’ve also hired a real estate agent, get ready to pay him from your pocket.

#2: Attention To Detail 

As a seller, you might be able to be far out of the element to review the condition of the house and also comprehend all the required documents that are involved in the deal. It doesn't matter whether you are selling the house or buying it; it is imperative that you have a thorough understanding of what you are getting yourself into. 

When you hire a real estate agency, you can have peace of mind; the agent will be familiar with all the paperwork and will be able to guide in the right direction. Mistakes and omissions in the documents can be costly. It is a better choice of hiring a real estate agent instead. 

#3: Privacy And Confidentiality 

Whether you are planning on buying a house or selling one, your real estate agent has your back. This is because the agents are legally obligated to put their customers' best interests first. As a seller, you'd want your house to be sold for as much money as possible while keeping each and every information about your house private and confidential, right? As you’ve hired a real estate agent, he’d now know if the information the other agent is asking is a reasonable one or not. 

#4: They Know What To Look For

We all know that the buyers have a good eye of what they particularly want in a house. This implies that they’ll want to know the number of room in the house, is there a garage attached as well, and other details. These are some factors that a buyer will be looking for. Whereas, a real estate agent will be looking for all the elements that might not cross your mind. Such as issues with the house. The real estate agent will recognize the issues and report them to you. So, basically, you’ll be saving money in the long run. 

And if you are a seller, your real estate agent will make sure that all the issues of the house are not noticed as significant issues, and will try to tell the buyer the best way to approach them. 

#5: They Have Negotiating Skills 

As a matter of fact, when it comes to selling a house with all such issues, you might not be a negotiating shark. But your real estate agent might be one! This is because they know what works and what does not. As a buyer of the house, you might be willing to buy a house that looks like your dream house but has issues that you might not be able to notice. However, if the agent has noticed them, they can bargain the price and help you in setting some cash for it.