Are you thinking of hiring a real estate salesperson to market your home?
One of the first questions that will come to mind is - how much commission will they charge? Once you have interviewed 3 or 4 salespeople, it's easy to fall into the trap of hiring the cheapest one, without understanding the implications that can have on your final sale price.
Every property sits in a wide potential value range, and while the market determines that value range to some extent, the salesperson you hire and the process they use to attract buyers and coordinate competition greatly impact the final result.
Consider the following examples of their influence throughout the process:
Does the salesperson provide the right pre-sale advice around preparing and presenting your home to maximise the sale price? Or will they tell you to spend money unnecessarily? Or worse, not to spend any money at all, when a small investment could net you thousands more.
Will they reach and attract the right target market to visit your home and provide them ample viewing opportunities to fall in love with it? Or will buyers receive slow responses to enquiries and a lack of support from the salespeople running your open homes?
Will they adeptly handle objections that key buyers raise? Or will they fumble through their words and destroy buyer confidence by not having the right answers?
Do they have creative marketing skills to rescue a campaign that gets off to a slow start? Or will they become disengaged if your property proves hard to sell?
Can they show patience, manage multiple interested buyers and strategically use deadlines to secure a premium price in a competitive environment? Or will they try and sell your home quickly, to the first buyer who shows decent interest?
Do they have the negotiation skills and experience to help you secure that extra 1-5% when the deal gets close? Or are they more likely to accept the first 'no' from the buyer and put pressure on you to take the offer?
All of these examples illustrate standard qualities you should expect in any salesperson you hire, no matter what commission they charge. In reality though, all real estate professionals are not created equal. As with any service industry, the spectrum of skill and experience is wide. Exceptional practitioners are worth their weight in gold, adding value every step of the way.
The challenge in all of this is seeing the wood for the trees at the hiring stage. It takes courage to hire a salesperson who isn't the cheapest option when you have no way of knowing what your final sale price will be. So the key point to remember is that there is no one price for any house. Every home sits in a value range, so ask yourself: Of all the salespeople you are interviewing, who is most likely to secure you a result at the top of that value range?
Who has the experience, confidence and professionalism to maximise the value of your biggest asset?
Which salesperson has a proven selling process that has worked for similar homes in your neighbourhood? The best real estate professionals have a marketing plan that they (and you) can trust. One that you can believe in.
Highly proficient real estate salespeople usually aren't the cheapest. They don't need to be, because they build clients for life with their approach and secure a large portion of their business through word-of-mouth referrals.
Selling any property is a rare opportunity to maximise your net worth. Make sure you hire a professional who can help you do just that.
Bonus tip: The best salespeople also aren't likely to try and 'buy' your business by offering the highest appraisal (another tempting trap to watch out for in the hiring process). They will provide you with a realistic price guide based on recent sales and explain the strategies available to reach the top of that range or higher if possible.
