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Community Corner

The Job Interview: Hiring a Realtor

Top five questions to ask potential Realtors who are interviewing to list your home.

You are ready to sell your Peachtree Corners home, but how are you are going to find the best real estate agent to market your home?

Begin your search for an agent by talking with friends and family and find out who they hired and why. A word of caution, your friends and family may live in a different area and that could be a problem when hiring the best agent to get your home sold. Unless you are hiring your mother, pick an agent who works your area.

When I get calls from outside my market area I make it very clear that they are not in our primary market area, but because they are a referral I would love to talk to them. If I cannot do the very best job for them, I will refer them to a top agent in their market.

There are five questions you should ask any agent you talk with. Put these on your list of questions to ask when interviewing an agent.

1. Are you a REALTOR?  Realtors adhere to a strict code of ethics. They are required to continue their education and they all have standard contracts which have been carefully studied to not be weighted toward buyer or seller. Not all real estate agents are Realtors.

2.How long have you been in the business? Everyone is new at some point in their career but in these challenging times experience could make the difference in selling or not selling your home.  If you are hiring an agent with limited experience, make sure they have a support person that would be helping them if a problem arose. Just remember, if you needed surgery on your heart, would you want the surgeon who has done a few surgeries, or do you want the one who has done hundreds or thousands of heart surgeries.

3. How many homes have you sold in this area in the past year?  It’s not just the number of homes sold but it’s the knowledge gained about the area from those sales that could mean the difference. Being able to share the spirit of an area and the information about the schools in your community is priceless.

4. What do you do different to market my home?  There are agents with a marketing plan that consist of the three P’s.  1.Put a sign in the front yard. 2.Put the home on the  Multiple Listing Service. 3. Pray!  In todays market you might not want to rely on just the three P’s.  The agent you are talking with should have a market plan for your home and should be able to share it with you.

5.What is your Web presence?  The agent you hire should have an understanding and be able to take full advantage of the array of marketing possibilities the Internet has to offer. This includes not only searching on a personal computer but the use of smart phones, iPads and social media to get the word out about your home.

Ask these questions, and then go with the person or team that you feel could do the best job marketing your home.

Search PeachtreeCorners.com for all the information you need about selling a home in Peachtree Corners.

Jenifer Cusick has just listed 4558 Holstein Hill Drive, Neely Farm. The home is priced at $543,000.

Nancy Minor has listed 5136 Staverly Lane, in Riverfield. This home is priced at $425,000.

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