So you are thinking of selling your Brisbane property.
There’s a lot at stake when choosing a real estate agent.
Choose the wrong real estate agent and you may under sell your Brisbane property by $50,000 or way more. Yep, that happens all too often in real estate world.
Interviewing 3 or 4 Brisbane real estate agents doesn’t always result in you choosing the best agent to sell your home.
The reason being is, agents are taught these days how to present themselves well in the listing interview.
You might really like them, they may have a long list of sales, they may actually be the dominant agent in your area.
None of those things guarantee the agent you choose will get you the maximum price the market will bear for your home.
One of the best ways to interview an agent is to ‘secret shop’ them.
How you do that is you go to one or two of their open homes. Send a friend if you want to stay anonymous. Go to the open home as though you are a buyer.
Open homes are where agents’ work ethic, skill, presentation, knowledge and professionalism is on display.
You can tell a lot about an agent by your experience of an agent’s open home. But not just the open home, also the agent’s follow-up post open home.
This is a brilliant way to make an informed decision about an agent.
Here Are 5 Tips How To Choose A Real Estate Agent To Sell Your Brisbane Property By Going To Open Homes:
- Is the listing agent at the open home? This might seem like a dumb question, but some agents take on so many listings, they can’t possibly cover an entire Saturday of open homes. This leads to a junior sales assistant from the office being at the all-important open on their own, meeting and greeting prospective buyers but probably unable to answer most questions. Make sure the agent you list with attends all open homes.
- The look and feel of the open home. Is the entry well signed? Are you greeted warmly? Are your questions answered at the open or in a phone call later that day? Is the home well presented? Has the agent cluttered the beautiful stone kitchen benchtop with their paraphernalia? (The answer to this one should be no.)
- What’s the look and feel of the agent’s brochure like? Is the paper flimsy or luxurious? How about the graphic design? Does it incorporate a qr code link so that you can see the property online and easily make an offer? Does it have a floor plan with measurements? Has the agent explained how to easily submit your Offer or Expression of Interest online?
- If you’re a neighbour, you may have been let know of the open home in advance via a courtesy note regarding extra traffic coming to the street. You might have been invited to a sneak peek as well.
- Finally, is the agent’s sign-in process made smooth via the use of self-check-in technology such as a qr code? Or is it old-fashioned hand-written or manually typed in by the agent process (slowing everyone who’s trying to get into the home?)
And one bonus point: your prospective agent (not their junior sales associate) should follow you up with a phone call by Monday, no later.
If you’re in the early stages of preparing to sell your property, here’s some handy resources to ensure you maximise the sold price of your property:
