I've been there.
When I was a homeowner in Toronto and looking to sell, I didn't know how to choose.
The agent who had helped me buy my house many years before-well, I hardly remembered him except for the calendars he mailed to me every Christmas, which I promptly threw into the recycling bin, especially because his face was at the top of every month.
There were limits to my love and memory of him.
My friends had no clear recommendation either.
They told me to look through the real estate news and look for the agents with the biggest ads.
The idea was, I guess, the bigger the ad, the better the agent.
Flipping through those colourful pages, all that registered clearly to me was a bevy of very similar smiles and stares: some to the point of mania.
The bigger ads caught more attention, but I wasn't sure that was the kind of agent I was looking for even then and now that I've been a real estate agent for a while, I am sure that that particular premise is not always true.
At least not for me.
I'm sure you've heard the argument: look for the agent who has the most listings.
More listings means success, people think.
Higher salaries suggest expertise.
Yes, obviously, it is true on one level, but if I were suddenly transported back in time and not a salesperson any more I would look for someone who doesn't have many listings.
A lot of these 'big-ticket' broker types work in teams, hiring people or working with other agents of various types.
If I were interviewing someone to represent me in my house sale, I would ask if they would be conducting open houses personally (this is just one indicator, by the way, I will get to others later) or getting others to do it.
Open houses are actually a contentious issue.
Many brokers who have been in the business a long time will tell you that open houses are not a good idea.
They will say open houses can actually be a venue for potential thieves to scope out a burglary.
The veterans will say that most people who go through open houses are far from the point of buying and few sales actually happen during open houses so they are effectively a waste of effort.
Still, some sales do happen on the spot or because of open houses and if I were a homeowner, yes, I would want open houses.
The more exposure the better.
The listing agent cannot always be available on a given day, but as a homeowner I would want to be assured that the listing agent would be doing open houses personally a lot of the time.
This is especially true for the agents' open house which to me, is very important.
The agent open house often occurs during the first week or two of listing and it is the listing agent's opportunity to persuade other agents that your house meets the needs of their clients.
You want the person who is making the commission on your house sale to be making the best pitch possible to other realtors.
You've probably heard stories of a realtor coming to a person's home, making a razzle-dazzle marketing pitch, the client signs on the dotted line and presto, the salesperson disappears.
Here's a strategy to avoid this.
When realtors present you with their written marketing strategy (and he or she should have one), ask if they are prepared to cancel the agreement with certain notice if they don't fulfill their promises.
If they are fully prepared to live up to what they say, this idea should not be a problem.
If they start to look edgy or nervous at this idea, well, that would make me wonder.
References are one thing but a satisfaction guarantee says much more.
Personally, I would not want to force an unsatisfied client to keep listing with me if I felt they were dissatisfied with my services.
I wouldn't feel happy about all the time and money I'd spent already, mind you, but it would strike me as the right thing to do-as long, of course, as the seller is acting out of good faith and not trying to scam.
Likewise you've probably heard the argument: look for the realtor with the most years of experience.
Again the premise is more years equals better performance.
This is sometimes true, sometimes not.
The comparison might be between newer teachers and experienced teachers (you can guess my former occupation).
Some teachers keep up with the times and new curriculum and are as vital a ever.
Others may vary well be teaching the same subjects in the same way they did twenty years ago.
Similarly, if salespeople come to your house for a property assessment and their market research basically comes out of the top of their head and they haven't even bothered to print out any comparable listings in your neighbourhood to show you, well, you shouldn't be impressed.
Instead ask them about their marketing strategies.
Will they have a virtual tour or at least a slide show of your house to present? What methods do they plan to use to market your property? You want to make sure that your representative will put in the required effort and advertising dollars to market your property in the best way possible with optimum exposure, especially in this internet-centred day and age.
Finally, make sure you like the salesperson.
Some of the public has a strange attitude toward real estate agents: they are virtually invisible until it comes time to purchase or sell a property, then they suddenly come into focus.
Don't underestimate the importance of needing to trust and like the salesperson.
Market times vary according to region, but you may very well have ongoing interaction with that person, sometimes for months.
Recognize that many sales people use 'sales scripts'.
Take the time to see through the sales approach and try to get a feeling for the genuine person underneath.