Responsive Agent Best Choice to Sell Your Home

“Today I was scheduled to take clients out for home tours. A few homes were added by them last minute. I became frustrated when the showing instructions for the first home said to call the office to make the showing appointment, and when I did, the office isn’t open on Sundays. I then checked the listing and though there were two agents listed, a main and an alternate, neither had a cell phone number listed to call. I emailed them but never received a response. As a result, my buyers couldn’t see the home. Moreover, the sellers of this home aren’t being properly serviced or marketed if their agent is the only means of scheduling a home tour.

The second home that the client added last minute to our list of homes to tour had the agent’s phone number listed to schedule a showing. When I called the number, that agent was on vacation with no forwarding details or back up agent support during her absence. Of course an agent is entitled to go on vacation, but as a seller, I would think you’d want someone appointed as a back up for potential buyers on your home. There is a ton of inventory out there, and chances are, and I have seen it happen time and time again, that if your home isn’t available, there are plenty of others that are, with motivated sellers and more motivated agents doing what it takes to truly show and sell the home.

The point of the story is to offer tips as you consider the best agent to sell your home.

1. Will the agent invest and use a reputable showing service or do they make other agents and buyers call the office or their unanswered mobile phones? Is the office open evenings and weekends? 

2. Assuming your agent does pay a showing service for tours, keep this in mind: Many agents may have questions prior to showing the home; will your agent answer the phone evenings or weekends to answer other Realtors’ questions on your home?

Too often I may call with a question prior to showing a home to make certain it meets a specific need of the buyers, like is it handicap accessible, or is the basement a walk out basement? I can’t tell you how many times I may have emailed or left a message with these questions and an agent will call me two days later after we already toured homes in the area. Two days to call someone back is too long!  In most cases, the buyers moved on to look at other houses and forgot about your house since your agent didn’t answer the phone when I called to inquire.

Further, does your agent use a Smartphone (Blackberry, iPhone, Droid)? An agent armed with technology of today can better field, answer and respond to inquiries from buyers and other agents wanting to see your home. If an agent has to wait to get back to computer to even see they have an email, he could have missed the chance to answer the inquiry within a timely manner, leaving you with a lost opportunity to sell your home.”