Yes, But How Do I Find the Best Listing Agent?”

By JIM SMITH, Realtor

Now that you know what a listing agent can and should do for you, you’ll probably want to interview more than one agent, but before you set an appointment, I suggest you check out each candidate online.  Don’t just Google their name — at www.REcolorado.com (the Denver MLS) search for the agent under the “Find Agent” tab. There you’ll not only be able to see the agent’s active and under contract listings, but also their sold listings going back a couple years. Click on “Map View” and see where they do most of their business.  Is it in your area?  

(When searching, remember that a “Dave” might be under “David” or a “Chuck” might be under “Charles,” etc.)  

The best predictor of how an agent will market your listing is how they are marketing their current listings and how they marketed their sold listings. You can click on the address of each listing to assess whether that agent enters a little or a lot of detail and the quality of their pictures and video, if any. Look for whether the agent provides the measurements and a description of each room in the house.  If an agent enters that info, he or she is doing much more than is required, which is a good sign.  

If there is any one quality which clients want to see in their agent, it is accessibility and responsiveness. Does the agent let most calls go into voicemail? Does the greeting say that calls received after 5 pm will be returned the next business day?  Maybe that agent isn’t for you.  Lastly, trust your “gut feeling” about any agent.  If you have any kind of negative feeling, trust it — and interview another agent.  

Published June 9, 2016, in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers.

How to Respond to Agents Who Send You Letters or Ring Your Doorbell

[Published Mar. 22, 2012, in the Denver Post]

There is a such a shortage of listings on the MLS right now that many agents (not mine) are flooding neighborhoods with letters claiming to have a buyer looking for a home there. Should you believe such letters, and how should you respond?

I know this is happening because recently I listed several homes (two of which sold in a few days for full price or higher), and the sellers told me about the letters they had received.  I was given one of those letters, and it turned out to be valid.  (The agent sold a nearby listing of mine to her reported buyer.)

I realize, however, (and so should you) that sometimes this approach is used by agents as a technique to get in your door and list your home.  The agent can always explain that the buyer they spoke of bought another house.

So what is a good way to respond when you get such a letter (or visit) from an agent?

If you are thinking of selling, I recommend that you call the agent and invite him or her over. The more agents the better, because they will then have seen your house if you end up putting it on the market.

The agents will probably come to “preview” the listing for their buyer, which is fine.  If they bring the buyer, all the better. Regardless, you should not list your home in order to sell it to their buyer. Rather, tell the agent that you won’t list with anyone until they have a chance to submit a for-sale-by-owner contract at a 2.8% commission.  If they can’t produce a contract under that arrangement, then I wouldn’t recommend listing with that agent, because they may have been bluffing about the buyer, and you want to demand complete integrity from any agent you end up hiring.

Since your visit from each agent will, in effect, prove to be a listing presentation, you need to be prepared to interview them and not just listen to their presentation.    To assist you with that process, I wrote a column in 2010 listing 18 questions to ask a potential listing agent.  That column was so popular that I gave it a URL of its own, www.The18Questions.com.  Use that column in your interview, and feel free to call me to verify any statistics agents provide about their own success as a listing agent, since doing so requires MLS access.

Believe it or not, we are in a sellers’ market right now, with listings — if they are priced right — going under contract very quickly. I urge you to subscribe to my blog (www.JimSmithBlog. com) where you will not only get this column before it is printed, but also get my monthly market activity reports.