Now that prices are down 30 percent and transactions are half of what they were at their peak, there are a huge number of agents – thousands on the west side of Los Angeles – working a much smaller pool of listings. The good news for buyers and sellers: You can be a lot pickier than in the past.
When you consider that the commission rate is uniform throughout most of the industry, then you don’t retain an agent based on price. It’s important that you do your homework to ensure you’re getting the most for your sales commission.
The top 5 questions I would ask before hiring an agent are:
1. How much experience do you have with properties such as mine?
2. How much attention can you pay to my property? In other words, is it one 1-of-10 or 1-of-50 that you current have listed?
3. Will you handle the showings yourself or pass them off to an assistant?
4. How familiar are you with the neighborhood where my property is located?
5. Since the real estate industry has become much more tech savvy, how will you market my property using new technologies and techniques? How many websites will my property be available on, and in what countries? Is your agency website easily negotiated and easy to find? Does it perform well in search results?
WEA's use of new technology to sell real estate can be seen in this clip from CBS-Los Angeles:
By comparing the answers you receive, you will begin to get a sense of the level of commitment an agent has to your listing, as well as how innovative he/she is as a salesperson.
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