Choose a Realtor

C - Last Agent Standing: How can you use this method?

Interview several agents:

In this selection method, you interview several agents, advising them that you would like to hear about them, their company, their marketing plan, and their commission arrangements.

Before you meet, tell them that you do NOT want their pricing recommendations at this time. This then will only require one meeting (with each agent) since they won't need to see your home and then do any research to determine it's value.

Eliminating the pricing aspect will save the agent from most of their usual preparation time. They can concentrate on giving you their normal presentation combined with fielding your questions. Be sure to have them tour your home so that you can evaluate their comments. Some may be  inclined to take measurements and notes during their tour.

Let them know that you will narrow down the field of candidates and invite back selected agents for pricing recommendations and then make your final selection. Keep interviewing until you have found four or five really good candidates.

This technique should give you a very objective feeling about the agents. You won’t be swayed by an agent’s inflated opinion of your home’s value. Does the agent have a firm grasp of home selling? Are they knowledgeable about the homes in the area. Did you have the ability to readily communicate with them and do you feel comfortable with them?

Encourage the agents to be candid:

Invite the finalists back so that they can present their recommendations for an asking price and expected selling range.

Before they come, advise them that you will be giving the listing to the agent with the highest recommended asking price for a listing period of one month. If the home hasn’t received an accepted offer by then, the agent with the second highest asking price will get the listing for one month (at that agent's recommended price) and, if necessary, followed by the third.

With this approach, agents will not come in with an overly inflated price, but one that they feel is highly realistic. They know that with an inflated price and a short listing period, they’ll be just wasting their time. However, with a single month of selling opportunity, they should be pulling out all the stops to get the property sold–which is exactly what you want.

        NOTE:

If you're putting your home on the market during a slow selling period or live in a remote area that experiences minimal sales transactions, you should extend the listing period for each agent for a period longer than a month.