Top Signs Of A Bad Real Estate Agent
If your home has been listed for sale for a while now and it still hasn’t been sold, it may not be your real estate agent’s fault. After all, home sales were down more than 40% in August over the same time last year.
However, there are many ways to know if your agent is doing a good or bad job.
#1. Lack of Communication
If you haven’t heard from your real estate agent in a while, you should prolly fond another one. Even if no one has called for a showing of your home, or your agent hasn’t found any homes that meet your requirements as a buyer, he or she should still keep in touch with you on a regular basis by updating you on the work that has been done on your behalf.
#2. Lack of Leadership
If your real estate agent agrees with you on everything, this a sign that he or she is only eager to please you and committed to doing the best possible job. When it comes to pricing a home for sale, insist that your agent provides the research that was used to arrive at that price. An agent who asks you what you think your home is worth and lists it for that price is bad sign.
Your real estate agent is supposed to be an expert, so look for one who can lead and provide you with well-reasoned advice, not the other way round. Your agent should also be acting on your behalf and must take your final word in the end.
#3. Unused Resources
Many real estate agents will use the tools at their disposal to market your home to the public and help you find a new one that meets your needs. Some, however, will do nothing and rely on other real estate agents to market your home to their clients.
You should ask your real estate agent to take good photos and descriptions of your home if it’s for sale, and list it anywhere that may draw more interest to it, including putting the listing onto real estate websites, into local newspapers and even distributing flyers to homes in the area. Sure, your home might sell without this extra effort, but is that really the kind of person to whom you want to pay a commission?
#4. Lack of Follow-Up
Whether you’re buying or selling, many real estate agents think their job ends on the home’s possession date. This is the day upon which the transaction is considered complete, and the real estate agent is paid. An agent who calls after this date to address any follow-up questions you might have and ensure that you’re happy with his or her work is going above and beyond what is required and showing a real commitment to customer service.
Like other professions, there are good real estate agents and there are terrible ones. However, in a tough real estate market like this one, you need to find the best real estate agent for a better and faster transaction.
