In this video we look at how to choose a realtor when selling—top questions to ask
—how do you find the best one in your area and if you need to pay them upfront
—and other questions. That's starting right now.
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Hi everyone, I'm Karl. Welcome to another Homebuyer's School video, a channel
where you get the latest strategy tactics and tips from home buying experts.
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notification belt so you don't miss anything. So today I'm joined by Kevin
French, realtor with re/max realty, and the question we're gonna answer today is
how do you choose a realtor when selling your house?
– Well you're definitely going to want to interview a realtor.
I would encourage people to get multiple opinions,
meet with a few different people at the very least. Go through first of all—
get them to evaluate the property and see what they think it's worth,
but more importantly find out what their marketing plan is for the property—
how they intend to get it to as many people as possible, get as many people
through the door as they possibly can. There's a lot of work that should be
done prior to listing and that's including having a designer through
getting the home prepped, making sure that it's going to show at its best.
Ultimately once you take the photos and the property is on MLS, and it's live,
there's a lot you can't do from there. You can't go back and change how it's
being presented unless you restart the process. So key is getting it done right
from the first time and then getting it onto the market and then making sure
that they are following up, giving you feedback so you know how it's showing,
what the feedback is, what the negatives and positives are about the property so
hopefully you can adjust things if needed, and then continuing to work with
that agent and any interest that there may be—and then hopefully getting an
offer and negotiating in your favour from there.
– So what you just said, there's a lot of
stuff and I kind of want to unpack a little, bits and pieces of it.
So I think the first part I want to know is how do I find the best realtor I guess,
in my area? Or does it matter?
– Depends on the realtor, depends on the area.
There's a lot of people—it's called farming an area. So what Realtors do is
they market the area by continuously sending out newsletters using bus
benches, maybe radio ads, community events. That doesn't necessarily mean
that they're the best for the area but it's almost safe to assume that they do have
a vested interest in that community and should have a good understanding of
what the community has to offer if they're calling it their home base so to speak.
So that's typically a great person to start with, however I would
encourage most people to talk to their friends and family, and find out who
they've used in the past and what kind of experience they've had. Ultimately
using somebody that has marketing in the area may not be the best fit for you.
You have to meet with the person and make sure that you guys have a bit of a
connection and both have the same needs going forward.
Some people are downsizing, some people are separating,
some people are buying an investment property, some people have you know—
more children and a growing family so they need to buy a bigger space.
Those are all different needs and there's different people who
can work with those needs in different ways that might be a better fit.
– So usually when you're selling a house most likely you're probably looking to buy
as well. But so is it better to actually talk to a mortgage broker and maybe get
your finances settled first before you go to the real estate agent, or vice versa?
– No, talk to the mortgage broker first. Two reasons, first of all you never
want to sell your home with the intention of purchasing for X amount and then
find out that you can't actually afford that amount because then you would've
sold your home and then have nothing to move into or at least something
you may be unhappy with—and then second is understanding that there
may be mortgage penalties or typically are if you're breaking your mortgage and
so finding out what those penalties are prior to selling so that you know all
your cost upfront. A lot of people tend to roll that into their entire expenses
and they're trying to budget accordingly. So finding out that you had a five or
ten thousand dollar bill that was unexpected obviously wouldn't be ideal.
So speaking with your mortgage specialist beforehand to make sure you
know those numbers is key.
– And remember, if you want to know more about the
mortgage approval process, watch our playlist above and in the description
below. So let's go back to actually selling your house—well selling your
home—do you actually pay a realtor to show your home? Like I remember you
mentioned the marketing aspect of it.
– So typically the agent that lists
the home doesn't actually sell the property, they don't represent the buyer.
It's frowned upon and it's not recommended because it's kind of
impossible for them to get the seller that's
praising the buyer the lowest price. So most of the time it's shown by the
buyer's agent. So the buyer will be represented by another realtor, that
realtor then books showings through the listing agent would be who they would
have interviewed and hired. Once that's confirmed then the buyer's agent takes
them to the property and then if there's some interest than the two of the agents
negotiate from there.
– So does it cost money to actually list your home for sale?
– Typically no. I can't speak to other people's business models. Some
agents may charge for the services that they include or offer, however typically
it would be included. That's part of the contract that's negotiated with the
listing agent and then the services that they offer would be included in there. If
the contract comes to term, the property doesn't sell, then usually both parties
either extend the contract, or if you're taking it off the market then you just
go your separate ways at that point.
– And when you say— when you're talking about
Realtors and their fees, and so on, do you pay a realtor upfront or do you
py after your house is actually sold?
– Paid after the home has sold majority of the time.
I shouldn't speak to it you know—I can't really say that it's one
blanket answer because people may run their businesses differently, but
majority of the time of course, once the home is sold then the proceeds of the
home is given to the seller, but a portion of the proceeds are used to
pay the fees.
– Got it — And remember if you want to know more about how Realtors get paid,
we actually have a video here and in the description below. Then finally, one
of the questions I want to ask is how do real estate agents get listings? Like is
it just through their networks? Is that kind of how—?
– Interesting question.
Through the network, through marketing, through referrals, any avenue where
basically somebody contacts them or they contact somebody who's interested
in selling or purchasing a home, and then they meet and find there's a mutual
connection there—and then they decide to work together going forward.
But it can be a difficult process.
– So do you have anything else to add in terms of
choosing a real estate agent for selling?
– I just encourage everybody to go with
their gut and work with who would work best with them. A lot of the time
when I'm meeting with clients they are meeting three to five six agents
so if they're meeting that many people, they're getting a different feel
for everybody. What their marketing plan is, what they have to offer,
what the connection is between them and the realtor.
Some people off the impression that they're going to open house
the property every weekend and they're gonna do all these things. It's important
for the sellers to ask what value does that actually add. For example, how
many homes in the last year or five years have you sold off open houses?
Is it actually advantageous for the seller to be out of their home every weekend or
is the marketing that they're using actually effective or does it just sound
good? It's important for them to ask as many questions as they can and
then make sure that who they're working with answers those questions
appropriately, and then ensures that they're going to follow through on the
things that they offer.
– Is it better to have a connection, like I guess a
personal connection with the realtor, or kind of choose a realtor based on talent?
Or is it a combination of the two?
– Combination of the two, but you need to trust them.
Ultimately they're going to be bringing you an offer at some point hopefully, and then
they're going to be negotiating on your behalf. So they're going to advise that
you know, you need to maybe go out of your comfort zone a little bit
and maybe you should consider taking this offer for these reasons. So you need
to understand that they're doing that and they're looking out for your
best interest, not just trying to get the property sold. So there's a lot of data
that they're working with and they're working with a lot of sound logic for
majority of it, and it's important that you trust them and work with them,
and understand where it's coming from.
– Perfect. So the question of the day I have for you is,
what are some of the best tips you have in terms of choosing a realtor?
Let us know in the comments section below.
And remember if you want to know more
about selling your home, check out these
videos as well, and don't forget to
subscribe if you want to know more from
the experts. Thank you for watching,
we'll catch you next video.