Are you looking to buy or sell a house and want to work with a realtor? In this video, we’re going to talk about the worst questions to ask a real estate agent. We’ll also look at some tips on how to ask better questions so you can choose the right person to work with.
How Long Have You Been Doing This?
One of the worst questions you can ask a real estate agent is “how long have you been doing this?” We always get asked this question, and I always wonder what’s important about that. I know the agents that have been doing this for 30 years but only sell two houses a year, and quite frankly, they’re dinosaurs. They’ve been doing things the same way they did 30 years ago.
We also have agents that are brand new but sell 30, 40, or 50 houses every year. So who would you prefer to work with? Instead of asking an agent how long they’ve been an agent, you should ask them if they’re a full-time or part-time agent. Ask them for the track record of how many houses they sell and what their success record looks like.
What Company Do You Work For?
The next worst question that we get asked all the time is, “what company do you work for?” As real estate agents, we have to hang our license with a real estate brokerage—but we don’t work for them. We all own and independently operate our own businesses.
What we find is that buyers and sellers hire an agent and not a company. You need to find the person that you trust and who is going to help you achieve your goals. That’s always going to be the agent, not the company. Instead of asking what company an agent works for, you might want to ask them where they’re located, what their area of expertise is, and what type of clients they work with.
I never want to claim to get confused by the success of a company when there may be an agent there who does very little business. Or the opposite could be true: there could be a small independent brokerage that has an agent within it that does a ton of business. You need to find out what the agent is doing, not the company or the firm.
What’s Your Price For The House?
So you’ve decided to sell your house and now you’re interviewing agents. The next worst question we hear is, “what’s your price for the house?” I hate to tell you, but we’re not buying the house. We need to find a buyer who’s purchasing the house. The buyer’s real estate agents will provide you with all the tools you need, and they’ll help give you a great estimate of what the market might think of your house or what a buyer might be willing to pay.
Unfortunately, as much as I wish we had the power, we don’t set the price. What’s important about that is you should never hire a real estate agent based on the price. Since the real estate agent doesn’t control the price, it would be foolish to hire an agent who tells you the highest price. It would also be foolish to not hire an agent because they told you a low price. Neither of those agents is buying the house.
Instead of asking the agent for the price of the house, you should be asking him the strategies they’re going to use to maximize exposure, display your house to the most amount of buyers, and help drive that price up as much as possible.
Where Is Your Office Located?
The final worst question we often hear is, “where is your office located?” The agent’s office location often isn’t important. What’s important is, “where is the area of expertise for that agent?” Again, ask them for their track record. Where do they actually sell houses that are not always in the same place where their physical office is?
Let’s face it: it’s 2021. Everything’s online now; even some brokerages are online. I would not base your decision to hire an agent on where their physical office location is, but rather where they practice business. Where are they selling houses, and where is their expertise?
Choosing The Right Agent
I hope you found out what not to ask a real estate agent, along with some better tips on what questions are very important when you’re choosing the best agent to hire. I work with buyers and sellers just like you here in South Jersey every day. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out and I’d be happy to help you.
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