It seems like everyone is calling themselves a real estate professional these days.
As the real estate market has heated up in recent years, many newly licensed agents have jumped into the business, while others who quit real estate years ago have decided to give it a try again.
According to the National Association of Realtors, 80% of people who get their real estate license quit in the first year in the business. It is much harder work, with longer hours, and is far more complex and expensive than most new agents realize.
The average agent in north metro Atlanta sells 3.7 homes per year. That is simply not enough to stay abreast of annual changes to laws and contracts, trends in property values, effective negotiation strategies, or new ways to maximize marketing exposure.
As one of the largest financial and emotional investments a person makes in their lifetime, why would anyone use an agent who has little or no experience, and little or no investment in marketing?
Sometimes inexperienced agents offer a discount broker fee to entice a seller.
A skilled negotiator who knows how to navigate contracts, inspections, title issues, financing options, and the myriad of complexities that arise, and who invests thousands of dollars per month in marketing, will typically net the seller far more on their bottom line.
Online digital real estate marketing is expensive. The No. 1 real estate website in the world is Zillow, and brokers must pay to play on that site, essentially buying back their own listing leads or else those leads are sold to three other agents who likely know nothing about the listing.
If you check reviews before buying a TV or Car, shouldn’t you check real estate reviews?
This may seem like a no brainer, but before working with any agent, check their reviews online. Zillow Reviews show actual confirmed buyer and seller reviews. Also check Facebook and Google.
A lack of reviews or consistently poor reviews should be a red flag.
What about working with my friend or relative?
It can be hard to say no to a friend or relative, but when a deal goes bad, it is far worse to lose a friend or harm a relationship with a relative. We wrote an article with tips on working with a close friend or relative. In the article we pose these key questions to consider:
Key questions to ask before working with friends or family:
- Do I want to mix business with friendship or family?
- What if things don’t go well? Could it harm the relationship?
- What are their credentials and track record?
- If they weren’t family or friends, would you still hire them?
- What do their online reviews on Zillow or Facebook say about them?
- Am I comfortable with them knowing the details of my financial situation?
- Are they a new agent? If so, do I want them to practice on my life transition?
- How professional is their website and marketing presence?
- Are they full time, with a team to support them when they are sick or on vacation?
- Do they have a strong track record of negotiating deals and handling all the moving parts involved in a real estate transaction?
How is Path & Post Real Estate different?
Not only do we sell more than any other agent or team in our local market, but we also treat real estate differently.
Check out our quick videos where we share WHY we love what we do, and HOW we do it differently.
