How to Tell If you have Chosen the Wrong Listing Agent?

Ok, so now I have your attention with the title, I want to correct myself and say your current realtor might be a really good one. I personally know a good number of very good agents. That aside, the market is currently very competitive and in most Miami neighborhoods it is most certainly a buyer’s market. In such highly competitive times you selling a house or a condo requires more than just listing the home and waiting for the phone to ring. Are you thinking of selling your Miami home? The points below are important to keep in mind while looking for a Miami listing agent. If your home is on the market already and things have gotten stale, then it might be time to assess a couple of things including your agent.

Here are a few things that should really ring alarm bells and will tell you if your current agent is unfit for the job

It sounds absurd, but there are plenty of listings out there with terrible pictures. This lack of quality is not only seen with the more affordable listings. You will not believe the amount of pictures that is taken with an i-phone, against the light and without removing objects on the floor or even making the bed. It is also not uncommon to see waterfront properties being photographed during the night or with the curtains closed. Do not settle for mediocre i-phone pictures and choose an agent who uses a professional photographer and who knows how to showcase a home.

Many agents get a listing, post it on the MLS (often with wrong or incomplete information) and wait till their phone rings. Always ask your agent what their strategy is and how they are trying to sell your home. If an agent cannot reference specific marketing campaigns they will use to sell your home, then they are probably not the right agent.

Just listing a property on the MLS is not cutting it in today’s global market place. There are plenty of platforms, sites and strategies to help expose a listing and agents should have a clear idea of what works with each kind of property. With Miami being a global city and receiving relocating individuals or families from all over the US and the world, marketing a property just locally is outdated and limits the property’s exposure. Engage with an agent who thinks out of the box, has a clear strategy and a global outlook.

As mentioned before, many listing agents have gotten their license and are now willing to make the big bucks, preferably without any additional investments like a website. Most agent have a very basic website and with thousands of Miami realtors, it will be hard to find their content online. If their site cannot be found, it is highly unlikely potential buyers can find your listing.

Everyone has to begin somewhere and we all have to prove ourselves. There are natural talents out there and fast rising stars, but generally speaking I would not recommend to list a luxury home with a newbie agent. New agents do simply not have the same extended database of buyers that established agents have. They do not have the same contacts and respect from other high performing agents and they most probably will not have clear sales strategies in place other than the MLS, Trulia and Zillow. I know how hard it is to start in this business and by the time many get their first listing they have already been without a Dollar of income for a year. Would they then use paid online campaigns to promote your listing or spend an extra $1,000 to have a superb listing video….?
I always ask this; would you leave your stocks and family fortune in hands of a newbie investor or would you prefer the seasoned wealth/investment advisor? If your answer is the latter, then why would you leave millions of dollars of real estate in the hands of a new agent?

A good agent will update you every week or fortnight on how the listing is performing. How many people opened an email campaign, how many people came to the open house, how many agents inquired to see the listing, how many agents came to a brokers open and the market’s feedback are common things to share with a seller. The performance of your property on the market should be monitored and you should be aware of it. Besides that, you should be kept in the loop of what the market is doing; which sales have happened and which new listings entered the market. Look for an agent who updates you on your home’s performance and provides you with important market information that might influence the competitive situation of your property and its listing price.

Sites like Trulia, Zillow and Realtor.com are important sites for consumers to find listings. Does your realtor tell you how your home is doing compared to the competition? If they do not check this, how do they know the listing is on top of the search engines? It’s an agent’s duty to upload a video and to fill out the forms as much as possible. With 1000’s of listings, if your agent does not fill out all the fields or does not go the extra mile, your listing will be lost on the bottom of the list. Use an agent who looks at the details and who shares them with you!

Does your realtor offer to open the house on weekends or is he too busy with his own life? Open Houses are an excellent way to find buyers for a property that are touring the area. We often find buyers for our homes at open houses (not necessarily the house they were actually visiting). Having an open house in lets say Coral Gables provides the listing agent with a new database of potential buyers, which will benefit you as a seller. Engage with a Miami realtor who is willing to open your house for brokers and for buyers.

It is proven that most people prefer watching videos over pictures. Videos of real estate are easier on the eye and show you the flow of the home, which is hard to capture on pictures. Choose an agent who has the best videographers at hand and who is willing to spend money on the marketing of your property.

Empty homes are less appealing to buyers than furnished homes. Not only do they appear smaller, many people also find it hard to imagine what to do with a certain space and are therefore less likely to make an offer on the house. This is not to say that an empty home won’t sell, but as a seller you have the right to know what is best to sell your property and you should be given options, whether you will opt to use them or not.

Work with a Miami listing agent who offers you additional advice and shows you the difference between selling staged and empty houses.

Do you have an agent who after he finally got the listing, passed it on to an office associate who is willing to show it for 25% of the commission? Or even worse: leave the key in a lockbox outside of your property. This happens a lot. You should work with an agent who takes the time himself to show the property. An agent who knows the property inside and out and can answer questions from potential buyers and agents. This is not to say that nobody else can show the property. Many agents have trusted associates/assistants who shadow them all week long and know the ins and outs of a property. Having different people show a property is ok, as long as they know your house and as long as you feel the listing agent who you hired is not lacking passion and enthusiasm to sell your home.