Real estate professionals understand that buying or selling a home is a process in which most people feel especially vulnerable. One of the best reasons to use a realtor is that they are trained to protect the safety and security of their clients.

A real estate agent who lists and promotes the sale of your home is experienced in working with the public and understands the importance of screening every person they invite into your house.

A skilled realtor will not waste time showing your home unless they pre-determine that a buyer is actually qualified to make a solid offer.

By accompanying potential buyers on the home tour, the realtor positions himself or herself in between the seller and the buyer, answering questions and conducting negotiations as the agent of sale. Many realtors are now asking to copy the driver’s license of a buyer before bringing him to your home.

Marketing your home involves exposing it to the scrutiny of relative strangers. Experienced real estate agents often recommend that valuable items such as rare collectibles, statues or paintings be removed from a room before it is photographed for Internet advertising or shown to a prospective buyer.

You certainly want to interview your Realtor because once you are locked in you are stuck (e.g., a six month contract).

Most often the broker who gives you the highest price is not the best Realtor - remember - they are not buying your home so inflating your ego with what they think you want to hear, namely a suggested high price, does nothing for you.

In the trade we call it “buying the listing.”

The agent has you locked in for six months and after thirty days you’ll start to drop your asking price. Eventually you are where you should have been in the beginning so be careful.

Interview your agent and find out what type of marketing they will do for you, how experienced are they, how many homes have they sold?

A proficient and professional agent should:

Assist you in pricing your home properly and be able to provide you with a Certified Marketing appraisal with substantiating data.

Give you a complete marketing proposal and market analysis of your home prior to taking the listing.

Have a full list of references (I have sold over 200 homes in town).

Be a full time professional and have production to substantiate this.

Create marketing items specifically for your home.

Keep you informed on the status of your property weekly.

Negotiate on your behalf throughout the sale process.

Be present and supervise all processes.

Give examples of ads that you can expect your will be seeing on your home.

There are three types of agency relations: Buyer’s Agent, Dual Agent, and Seller’s Agent.

Buyer’s Agent
A buyer’s agent acts exclusively on behalf of the buyer and has fiduciary duties to the buyer, including:

• Reasonable care
• Undivided loyalty
• Confidentiality
• Full disclosure of relevant material information
• Honesty
• Obedience to lawful instruction
• Accountability
• Reasonable skill and care
• Diligence

A buyer’s agent represents your best interests in the home buying process. In the event the buyer becomes interested in a property which is listed with the agent’s firm, the agent will become a dual agent in that transaction.

Dual Agent
Dual agency arises when an agent representing the buyer shows the buyer properties which have also been listed with the firm or those properties where the firm has already agreed to be an agent of the seller. A real estate company can be the agent of both the buyer and seller in a transaction with the knowledge and written consent of both parties.

A dual agent owes both the buyer and seller the following:

• Fair treatment of both parties
• Provide information that helps both parties make educated choices
• Advise and guide
• Provide a comparable market analysis
• Negotiate to mutually agreeable terms and conditions
• Keep confidential each party’s price, terms and personal confidences

Seller’s Agent
A seller’s or listing agent acts on behalf of the seller, and has fiduciary duties to the seller, just as outlined for buyer’s agent above. A seller’s agent may become a dual agent if they are also representing a buyer client on the subject property.