This article is from Bob Bruss, whose weekly real estate columns appear in newspapers across the country. ...
Why a family member may not be the best choice
Thursday, January 12, 2006
By Robert J. Bruss
Inman News
DEAR BOB: We made a bad mistake last September. My husband's niece just received her real estate sales license so we listed our home for sale with her. Fortunately, we followed your advice and listed for only 90 days. She was a complete dunce. It turned out she is selling real estate in addition to her part-time school teaching job.
When I talked to a full-time realty sales agent, she said our house never appeared on the weekly real estate broker tour (probably because our agent was busy at school). The listing expired with only a half-dozen showings by other agents. No offers. Our listing agent never showed our house once. She only held two weekend open houses because she was "too busy."
We are now ready to list our home for sale with a better agent. How do we find the right agent to sell our home? --Brent W.
DEAR BRENT: Now you know why I constantly recommend home sellers interview at least three successful local agents before listing their home with the best agent for 90 days. If you had done that, your niece probably wouldn't have obtained your listing.
Each full-time agent you interview should provide you with his/her personal brochure of qualifications for your listing consideration.
In addition, each agent should also submit a written CMA (comparative market analysis) of your home. The CMA will show recent sales prices of similar nearby homes, asking prices of comparable neighborhood homes (your competition), asking prices of recently expired competitive listings, and each agent's recommended asking and probable sales price for your home.
Without your asking, the best agents you interview should provide you with their marketing plan and recent seller references. Before listing with any agent, be sure to phone those sellers to ask "Were you in any way unhappy with your listing agent and you would sell you home again with the same agent?"
Of course, don't sign a listing for longer than 90 days unless the listing agent includes a written unconditional cancellation clause after the first 90 days. Labels: Corona, Foreclosure, Home Prices, Inland Empire, Loan Modification, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Real Estate, Riverside, Short Sales, Statistics, Temecula
