Hello

Your home might be worth $750,000, $1,500,000 or even $3,000,000 plus. Whatever it is, I’m sure that it is a large part of your personal wealth. I’m surprised just how often vendors don’t really know their agents background and capabilities prior to signing up with them. Just because an agent sold a similar property up the road does not make them the best person for the job.

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I have 10-12 check points that I like to ask real estate agents when interviewing them. I’m happy to share 5 of the most important questions with you.

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1. Are you a high volume agent that lists a lot of properties but does not really manage the sale? Plenty of high profile agents list a lot of properties but leave the sale process to other less experienced agents or their personal assistants. I'd like to know who will be communicating with the buyers.
    

2. Do you know the area?
   Do you know the advantages of living in the area like local schools, shops, parkland and transport as well as the little tips, like the best place to get your morning coffee.
    

3. How long have you been with the company?
   Some agents jump from office to office and that is never a good thing. It’s fair enough to make a change every 4-5 years but agents that move offices regularly are often hoping the grass is greener somewhere else. When the problem is usually them and not the brand.
    

4. How do you negotiate the sale?
   What methods do you employ the get the highest possible price from a buyer? How do you do this for a private sale and what type of team support do you have on auction day? If an agent lacks support on auction day, it usually means he/she lacks support every day.
    

5. What are your advertising costs?
   It’s very important to have costs fully itemised. Do you charge disbursement fees, ad. placement fees or auctioneer fees? Also what is negotiable? Remember agents get great advertising for their brand when you sell your house, so it’s only fair that the costs that they charge you are reasonable.
    

These are just some of the questions to ask a potential real estate agent. It often surprises me at the lack of due diligence when people select their agents. Remember real estate agents usually work really hard but let’s no forget especially the good one’s do get re-numerated quite well. Also remember it’s not cheap to sell a house. On the average $1.5M sale you could expect to pay within the vicinity of $25,000 to $40,000 in total costs. So, I truly believe that you have the right to be sure that you have chosen the best person to fully capitalise on what is likely you most valuable asset.