What to Look for in a Listing Agent for Your Home or Other Real Estate
Updated: Jan 13
For sellers, a prospective listing agent's former listings speak volumes, and it's a good idea to compare some of the important elements of those listings to those of comparable prior listings at the same properties like I did for a seller here. Sometimes information on public websites like Zillow will have information taken down after sale, so it's a good idea to ask your agent for their past 6 sales. Pay careful attention to the amount of effort you see in their lowest price listing sale, especially one where the seller doesn't have it in good shape and is a fixer upper. If some listings have certain items in marketing and others don't, look at the price tags of those homes and see if there's a pattern. If not, the agent might only do something like that when requested. In some cases, the listing agent might offer different things based on the total commission offered or the % commission offered. It's a good idea to note patterns and ask your agent about the discrepancies.
Map below of my coverage area for sellers based on price range with MLS in orange & whited out areas being areas without as solid MLS coverage:
Items to look for before agreeing to interview a prospective agent for a listing appointment:
How Experienced Are They?
While experience doesn't mean everything, an agent's total transaction history is very important. A brand new agent who just got into the business, no matter how much education or good intentions they have, will still have a big learning curve.
Have you ever heard the term "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect."? In real estate, high volume often means cut corners vs other full time agents who may be working even harder but putting their heart into it and seeking higher levels of excellence in their craft.
The more real estate education, real estate experience (including total sales) and years of full time real estate they have under their belt, the better. An easy way to see their current number of years of service & total number of transactions in many cases (though some properties may be excluded due to MLS issues syncing with Zillow or reporting issues) is to look on their Zillow profile.
In my case, at the time of this writing I have over 100 transactions under my belt, started in the marketing department at my firm full time in May 2014, marketed over 100 homes while in it, then transitioned directly into sales at the start of February 2015.
How are Their Reviews?
What Are They Communicating?
Often whether in emails or calls, agents wont' have much depth in what they are communicating. Look for depth and compare it to other agents you're speaking to.
What Have They Published?
Whether they've published a book, have a great website, have published articles for Forbes, or otherwise, the volume of content that they've published publicly can give you an indication of the depth of what they can pull from privately as it applies to situations that may arise over the course of a transaction. The higher the volume of content they have, the higher the likelihood that a question you have for them may produce a new significant piece of content.
As you can see from this website (over 50,000 words, longer than some books), I spend a high volume of time in educating myself on real estate and on sharing my knowledge with others.
Items to look for before & in your prospective agent's listing appointment:
Detailed Walk Through of Your Home
Some listing agents are in a rush, going after volume so much that it's at the expense of their clients. While many agents seek to reach as many buyers and sellers as they can, I have a high emphasis on quality over quantity. I have been as high as in the top 8% of agents by volume in REIN MLS (the main MLS of Hampton Roads) in a year, but I have a heavy emphasis on quality over quantity, as you can see by looking at the quality of my listings and the volume of content on this website. All the writing that goes into this website, for instance, doesn't reap many short term benefits, but I feel that by educating buyers and sellers, they will be informed to make the best decisions. If I am able to reach less buyers and sellers for many years because of the time I am spending on it, so be it.
A good agent will be candid and honest with you about how to make cost effective repairs, what cleaning needs to occur, etc. An agent who tells you that you don't need to do anything about the house likely cares more about telling you what you want to hear than being honest with you. Even relatively impeccable homes should receive some feedback on what to revise. A candid and honest agent will tend to get less listings because sellers so often go with the agent that tells them what they want to hear.
Comparable Sales
Your listing should be able to show you the comparable sales that indicate the price that they are suggesting you list for. They shouldn't be picking a number out of a hat from your vantage point with you having no idea how they came up with it.
Industry Knowledge
Within your listing appointment and other interaction with a prospective agent you should be able to tell that they know what they're doing. You may be able to see additional educational information on their Linkedin Profile or website. Some of the best advice on real estate I get is from the team at my firm including my dad, who has sold more homes cumulatively than likely anyone in Hampton Roads alive.
Marketing
Ask your agent if they don't offer to tell you about what types of marketing activities they'll be doing. Listen for some of the items in the next section on "Items to look for in your agent's previous listings". It's also a good idea to ask if what you are asking about is a typical element of their marketing strategy.
For instance, do they:
1. ...typically do open houses (& would they do it for your listing)?
With Adam, the answer is yes and yes, excluding certain low commission properties & certain as is homes.
2. ...typically push your listing to a large number of other agents beyond input into MLS.
With Adam, he typically will email your listing once entered to every agent at his firm, which as of the time of this publication is around 100 agents.
3. ...typically push your listing via paper marketing to other agents
With Adam, he typically will email your listing once entered to every agent at his firm, which as of the time of this publication is around 100 agents.
4. ...typically push your listing on social media?
With Adam & his standard commission properties with some exceptions, his social media campaign is far superior to the vast majority of agents.
Here's a recent example with no paid advertising involved, numbers many agents will never achieve even if they include paid social media advertising:
5. ...typically put a sign in your yard. If so, what size?
With Adam, you'll be getting a standard large sign in your yard input by a sign company unless your association doesn't allow such large signs. Typically you'll be getting a flyer box on that sign.
6 ...have many buyers being represented at their firm?
Agents at the same firm have an easier time working with each other than those outside of their firm. With Adam, you'll be working with a firm of around 100 agents.
7. ... have any (& how much) ongoing marketing on Zillow & Realtor.com, the top and one of the top places where buyers not looking on MLS look for homes?
Because Garrett Realty Partners spends more on advertising in Hampton Roads on the #1 public platform for buyers to look online, Zillow, it is kind of like putting a sign in the yard of competing properties directing buyers to our firms. Those buyers may initially reach out about a neighboring property, and when that one doesn't work out, when the agent receives the paper marketing from me or the email from me about your listing, they'll be better prepared to let those buyers know about your listing.
What Multiple Listing Service will you put me in?
While it could go under other categories, this question is significant enough to have its own place, and can mean a big difference in sales price if you don't have adequate MLS coverage. When I listed for a former real estate agent, being in more than one MLS was one of the top reasons why he said he picked me over another agent he interviewed. In some cases, agents will have poor MLS coverage of an area, still list a home there, and if the seller doesn't know about what MLS are important, they could be completely unaware of why they keep needing to lower the price of their home.
Because 29% of buyers find homes through real estate agents (as of 2022), and those are typically via MLS, this question is very important. Adam has access to 5 MLS (more than 5 for co-listings with his dad, including for commercial property) & your property will typically go into 4 of them if listing with me.
MLS coverage should be at least 95% (ideally >99%) of the total agent listings of an area. Here is a spreadsheet I've compiled of which MLS is used most in SE VA cities/counties. Here is more on the most important locations in SE VA for you to be on more than one MLS.
Staging & Extras
Often agents will provide on the ground feedback in a listing appointment & sometimes prior on how to stage (i.e. in certain sections in here), which is important. In addition, some agents offer physical tools to enhance staging.
Enhancing Buyer's Experience In Property
Listing flyers, premium snacks, and premium drinks are all ways to enhance buyer's experience and help them have a better feeling about the property.
For standard commission properties under typical circumstances (i.e. needs AC/heat for drinks & a pest problem and food out would be a bad combination), I provide all of these (likely among the top 1% of agents for items present remaining in the home), and even for low commission properties I provide listing flyers.
What Gadgets/Physical Tools Does Your Agent Have Available?
Many agents don't have much when it comes to this question, even if they've been in the business for years. I'm likely somewhere in the top 5% of agents in this category, if not top 1%. I've dedicated a full page to the subject for myself here.
One of the most important physical gadgets/tools for an agent is their phone & options for virtual tours in the event that an unrepresented buyer ever needs a virtual live tour (since often the online virtual 3D tour isn't enough). At the time of this writing I have, some would argue, the bes