Choosing Your Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Florida Home

The way prospective sellers go about choosing a real estate agent vary greatly from calling the one with the most signs nearby, getting referrals from a friend or family member, just doing an Internet search (almost said the Yellow Pages!) or to keeping the postcards that come with the junk mail.

Regardless of method used to identify prospective real estate agents it is what one does next that is key to selecting their real estate agent.  Who (and how many) to choose one to interview. 

The Realtor® Interview.   It is during this interview the real agents vie for your business by trying to impress you with their expertise (or charm).    During this self promotion opportunity the selected real estate agents will seek to reveal one thing - what the agent wants you to hear with the most favorable statistics and recommendations being at the forefront.

Knowing this a homeowner should be prepared to ask the tough questions.   Here are some questions to ask prospective real estate agents during the interview:

• A couple of questions to ask during the real estate agent interview

• Asking the RIGHT questions

• Listing Interviews - Why the agent better have their act together!

• The skills your agent brings to the interview

• A couple of key questions to ask

• What is the number one rule when choosing an agent to sell your house?

Ultimately the choice of a real estate agent will be based on what is most important to the seller.    It could be the one who

• proposes the highest listing price or 
• charges the lowest commission or 
• promises a contract in the fewest days or 
• has had the most listings (does not mean the same as sales)or 
• closed the most sales or 
• who has been in the business the longest  or
• has the most initials behind their name, or
• has the best looks (yes, looks influence decisions)
• whatever! 

Ultimately the basis for choosing a particular real estate agent to sell your home will be the key characteristic(s) valued most.

If you are ready to sell your Melbourne, Florida home, please give me a call to discuss what I can do for you.

For a free market analysis, let me know.  I can be reached by phone at 321-693-3850 or by email.

First Time Home Buyer Mistakes: Relying to Heavily on the Internet.

Online resources are a great thing.  Some people swear by them. Some people swear at them.  But online resources have their limitations.

If you are considering buying or selling a home in Brevard County, Florida  I recommend you take a look at a recent article posted on the CNBC web site titled  "8 biggest mistakes first-time home buyers make."

This informative article includes Internet information among the eight mistakes made by first time home buyers.   As a real estate agent I was not too surprised that this list mentions online resources two times.

According to the article first time buyers put too much faith in online loan information.  While they do say researching online about mortgages is good the best move is to talk with several mortgage loan officers.  I would add several local mortgage loan officers.


The other mistake online resource mistake is placing too much faith in online home values.  I have seen this for years with sellers who take these estimates as "the whole truth and nothing but the truth!"    Real estate markets change and these "values" do not update as quickly.

Whether buyer or seller, as humans, we still want to use the information that supports our position best! 

My advice is simple.

Research all you want and then when it is time to buy or sell a house, call a human being who knows the area...your local expert.   Any online value estimate without context is of little value (motivation, condition, competition, etc).

If your plans include moving to Brevard County, Florida, call me at 321-693-3850 or send me an email.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net