David Rathgeber's

9 Critical Factors
in Agent Selection

Ranked in order of importance:

1. Someone you trust who is a full-time agent. Ideally, someone you know or someone who comes highly recommended by a trusted friend. You won't need to worry about any hidden agenda when the going gets tough!
   
   
2. Experience. The number of years is important, as well as the number of recent transactions. A lot of things can go wrong in a real estate transaction; experience matters.
   
   
3. Communications; verbal, written, and electronic. Knowing what to say, how to say it, what not to say, and when not to say it.
   
   
4. Negotiating expertise is absolutely essential to your success. Sellers need someone who will promote multiple offers and maximize their bottom line. Buyers always want a lower price, but winning their first-choice home can be crucial when other buyers suddenly appear.
   
   
5. Availability. Your agent should be readily available by phone, email, mobile email, text, et cetera. For buyers, this can be the difference between winning your home of choice, or living forever in your second-choice home. Don't settle for an assistant.
   
   
6. Computer literacy. For sellers: Your agent must think like a computer in order to maximize the number of times your home comes up in searches. And when your page pops out of the computer, the information needs to say, "Come visit me." (See $elling... Appendix D.)
   For buyers: Finding the right home is rarely easy and you will certainly need your agent's help. No doubt you will search online, but often the results you get are not the results you think you get. (See Buying... Appendix N.)
   
   
7. Your agent needs current market knowledge that comes from working with both buyers and sellers over a wide area and price range, and the ability to separate the actionable information from the mindless prattle. This is especially important in pricing your home to sell, and is critical in setting the pace of negotiations for buyers.
   
   
8. An agent who is numerate and uses the appraisal method to determine a home's market value for buyers as well as for sellers. Focus on how a home's value is determined rather than on the result! (See $elling... Chapter 4.)
   
   
9. Be sure your agent will use the electronic Sentrilock lockbox that records data for every entry. It costs about 6 times as much as combination lockboxes which can be hacked.

Also important: Click this link and learn how to avoid 12 common Agent Interviewing Mistakes!

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AFiRE — Florida-licensed real estate broker
A Friend in Real Estate, LLC

YFiRE — Virginia-licensed real estate broker
Your Friend in Real Estate, LLC




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