As you might imagine, Atlanta’s housing market is busy and competitive. When you decide to list your property, hiring a stellar seller’s agent is crucial if you want a timely sale at the best possible price. But with an estimated 2,000 agents working in the Atlanta market alone, how do you find one with the expertise and skills you need? Here are five tips to help you narrow your search to find the best of the best.
1. Ask around.
Even with all the information available online these days, the best form of advertising is still word of mouth. If you know of any friends, family members or neighbors who have sold property in your area within the past year or so, ask them which agent they worked with and how they would rate their experience with that agent. Only add those agents with glowing references to your short list, and you will have a good starting place to narrow the field.
2. Ask about their experience in the local market.
It is not enough just to hire an agent with excellent sales skills; the agent should also have an intimate working knowledge of the Atlanta housing market and, most specifically, the market in your specific neighborhood. How long has the agent lived in Atlanta? How long has he or she been selling in Atlanta? How many homes has the agent sold in your neighborhood or on your side of town? Asking these questions will give you an idea of whether the seller’s agent has a finger on the pulse of the housing market here.
3. Ask about credentials.
Many agents put in extra effort to become affiliated with certain professional associations, as well as to become certified in certain aspects of the business. Ask any potential seller’s agent about what organizations he or she belongs to and check with those associations to make sure the agent is in good standing with no disciplinary marks. Also, look for key accreditations like Seller Representative Specialist (SRS), Real Estate Negotiation Expert (RENE) or other designations related to your specific type of property. Agents with these extra certifications will be all the more qualified to help your property move more quickly for the right price.
4. Ask for the numbers.
How many homes has the agent sold in the past year? What percentage of homes listed have they actually sold? What is the agent’s list-to-sell price ratio — that is, how close does the agent usually get to the seller’s listed price, and how often do his or her listings sell at the listed price or above? These are not set-in-stone benchmarks, but, in general, you want an agent with double-digit annual home sales and a sale rate of at least 70 percent of listings and someone who usually sells within 90-95 percent of the list price. If an agent cannot provide any of these numbers at all, you might want to keep looking.
5. Ask about the marketing plan.
A skilled sales agent should be able to present you with a fairly detailed outline of how he or she plans to market your property. Where will the property be listed online, both locally and internationally? Will ads be run in local papers or real estate magazines? How many open houses? What else will the agent do to reach your target market of potential buyers? Make sure the agent can answer these questions to your satisfaction before signing up.
When you are ready to list your home for sale, Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty works with some of the top seller’s agents to be found anywhere in the metro. For more information, call us at 404.948.4812.