Ten Characteristics of a Great Realtor

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Connie Miller 
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Ten Characteristics of a Great Realtor:

  1. A great Realtor has time for you.  They don’t try to wow you with the dozens upon dozens of listings they have sold.  They manage your home sale or purchase personally and are the single point of contact for you.  They answer your calls within a few hours and make you feel as though yours is the only home sale or purchase on which they are working.  Your sale is never delegated to an assistant for important tasks.
  2. A great Realtor shows you how they are going to market your house using a completely integrated marketing plan that includes, print, a strong  internet presence, direct mail and word of mouth.  For print pieces, your house gets more than a postage stamp sized mention.  For internet, your home is syndicated on as many web sites as possible and you have your own property specific web site.
  3. The best Realtors are honest about the price they expect your home to command.  The Realtor who tells you your house has the highest value is not necessarily the Realtor who will get you the most money.  It is well known among Realtors that there are Realtors who ‘buy the listing’ by telling you an artificially indefensible number you want to hear, not one that the market may bear.
  4. Hire a Realtor who walks the walk, not just one who talks the talk.  It is amazing the number of Realtors who rent the house in which they live.  A December 2008 study by Realtor magazine said only 41% of all Realtors own investment property.  Would you hire a stock broker who owned no stock?  Until a Realtor has been in your shoes, they cannot fully advise you.
  5. A great Realtor belongs to a reputable brokerage.  The brokerage represents the Realtor’s support structure for you.  Do they have a market presence that can attract buyers?  Do they offer their Realtors legal support, training and advertising assistance that can insure your house is sold in a legally sound manner and for the highest price?  Real estate companies with only a handful of Realtors typically do not have the kind of infrastructure that can protect you and get you the best price for your home.  Nor do they have the network of agents who can get the word out about your home.
  6. A great Realtor earns every cent of her commission and strives to keep it as vehemently as she strives to get you the highest possible price for your home.  If Discount Realtors are so quick to discount their own fees, how do you think they will be in standing up for you during a hard negotiation to get you a great price for your home?
  7. A great Realtor knows your neighborhood.  They can quote the statistics of what is selling, why and where.  They know the schools, the stores, where to get a dog groomed, the traffic patterns and what the hot issues for the town are.  They know how far the parks are from your home.  In short, they know everything about your neighborhood so they can do the best job of selling your home.
  8. A great Realtor has a track record of successful negotiations.  When you interview a Realtor, as her to recount a story or two about a really tough negotiation she has had and how she succeeded in getting what their client wanted.  If you get a deer in the headlight type response to this question pick another Realtor.
  9. A great Realtor probably has some advanced designations.  Approximately ninety percent of Realtors have a Salesperson license while the balance has a Broker designation.  Brokers have to go through a more rigorous exam studying more Agency law, Disclosure law and other things that make them better able to navigate the complex process of buying and selling a home.  The National Association of Realtors currently offers 23 additional designations in a variety of specialties that require the designee to have additional matriculation and continued study.  The more a Realtor knows, the more they can make the process smoother for you.
  10. 10) A great Realtor gives you a defensible, comprehensive market analysis to support their price and marketing recommendation.

I can make the buying and selling experience great for you.  Call me and I can help.  Connie 650-279-7074

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