One of the most important decisions people make when selling their home is choosing a realtor. A real estate agent is the seller's agent, helping them navigate the process that the seller is far more aware of than they are. A typical real estate agent sells ten homes per year.
A typical homeowner will sell their home several times in their lifetime. In Qatar property markets with relatively low inventories and high demand growth, the process is often faster, more intense, and more complex than in most markets across the country.
A realtor should be involved from start to finish. Early on, a seller's advisor advises homeowners on how best to prepare their homes for sale. The agent suggests repairs and minor upgrades for one.
We can offer renditions to highlight the potential of your home. Then, agents and sellers work together to determine how the home will be priced.
And once a potential buyer appears, the agency manages and negotiates bids to achieve the best price for a home, guiding homeowners through a complex closing process that can vary widely.
Experienced and Nonexperienced Real Estate Agents
An agent's ability to successfully perform all these different tasks depends on experience, which is very important in this industry.
And for this, you need someone who knows the market and its projections and how things work. Negotiating in a fast-moving market requires an experienced agent.
The agent you choose to sell your home can easily make or break your sale. "Make or break" means that the realtor you choose can be the following difference.
Property sellers are forced to depend on the number of properties sold by an agent, and online reviews as the only criteria for selecting an agent.
Both Are Important But Very Misleading. Why?
Experience and reviews don't always mean realtors are doing their best to sell your home. Follow these steps on how to select a real estate agent to sell to.
1. Find Multiple Listing Agents
Unless you have industry knowledge and know exactly what to look for, you should spend time finding agents. If you consult with one real estate agent, you are more likely to choose the wrong real estate agent. Finding enough suitable candidates increases your chances of selecting the right agent. Ideally, it will be best if you aim to find multiple listing agents.
How to Search for a Realtor:
- Ask family and friends for recommendations
- Find agents online
- Keep this mailer at your local neighborhood agent
The goal is to find a good realtor. It helps to create an initial list of enough candidates.
Read Also: How to Start a Real Estate Business in Qatar
Research Agents Online:
Once you've created your list, the next step is doing more research. The purpose here is to save time by excluding agents that do not meet the minimum criteria. What are these minimum standards?
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Experience:
This is important because we don't want beginners or inexperienced people selling their most valuable properties. Search for agents online by typing "broker," "realtor," or "real estate" after their name.
Please note the following three points.
- Years of experience
- Number of properties sold
- How recent were these entries?
But make sure it's a property they listed and sold.
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Find Online Reviews:
Prioritizing reviews is mistake sellers make when choosing a realtor. Why? Because they can easily get manipulated. Many realtors only ask for reviews from customers they know will leave 5 stars. And many of these sites have very weak or no verification processes.
But some reviews are justified. Analyze this agent's feedback to see if there is a recurring common language (communication, service, negotiation, caring, etc.).
Have any negatives? It's not generally a poor thing if you have one or two, but you should check to see if and how that agent responded. Filter the list of potential agents. After doing a little research, zip the list.
We suggest with sure that you do not select agents that:
- Unlicensed for more than 2 years.
- Have been licensed for at least 2 years and have not sold a property within the last 6-12 months.
- Licensed for many years but less than 10 sales.
- Multiple negative reviews. • Minimum number of 5-star ratings
Therefore, remove from the potential list candidates who meet any of the above points.
2. Discuss Marketing Strategies to Compare
Marketing is the best strategy for selling your home. More buyers will view your listings, leading to better deals in less time. However, not all realtors offer the same services. That's why you should always compare the plans of each real estate agent.
First, see how they present your home. Agents must have at least the following to market your property:
- Listings on all major websites
- Professional photos
- Professional description of the property
- Open House and Agent Tour
- Signage
But if that's all you have in your marketing plan, you might consider not selecting them. Look for other things that may help differentiate your property from other homes for sale.
Some of these are:
- Video
- Drone photos/videos
- Customized brochures
- Architectural plans
- Staging
- Develop a plan to increase value before going public
These great marketing tools make your property stand out to potential buyers. But you want to choose the listing agent with the best overall plan that immediately attracts the right buyers. What's the agent's plan? Any realtor can sell a house, especially if it's a seller's market.
But there's a reason certain realtors have proven to be able to sell homes faster and for more money. Why this? Your marketing approach! Well, their strategy and negotiations, but strategy comes first.
What is your requirement to see how each agent's strategy loads up beside each other? Do you have a specific plan? Or are they just tossing your home on all property search sites? The best plan consists of three parts:
- Identify your ideal buyer
- List of selling features attractive to potential buyers
- Marketing channels used to maximize reach
Compare marketing plans and prioritize real estate agents whose holistic approach seems to be the best.
3. Compare and Eliminate
Choosing an agent is like preparing for an interview. You can gather important information by interviewing potential candidates before deciding who to hire to sell your home.
Many home sellers miss this because they don't know what information they are getting and how to get it. This is one of the reasons why they choose the wrong listing agent. Here's how to get around this:
Ask the right questions:
Here are listed some common queries to ask your broker before hiring them.
- How did you decide on the suggested retail price?
- How many homes have you sold near my location like mine?
- How many times have you represented a seller and a buyer in the same transaction?
- Decrease commission?
- Any reference to contact?
- What is your marketing plan?
Don't stick to one real estate agent when you first meet. Now that you have gathered the necessary information do not commit to choosing that broker yet. Your intent during the interview process was to gather important information.
Completing what we have covered in this step will give you the details you need to select the best real estate agent in Qatar to sell your home. But now is the time to evaluate this information.
Realtors must respond to their clients, and many hold this to the highest standards. However, as with most professionals, there are some caveats. These are listing agents willing to risk their integrity for a paycheck. Unfortunately, it is challenging for sellers to identify who they are.
However, you can do three things to avoid choosing one of these resellers.
- Don't choose agents with unrealistic list prices
- Do not choose a real estate company with a high double agent rate
- Don't get bound by the contract
4. Choose the Right Real Estate Agent
At this point, we have:
- Interviewed and compared multiple listing agents
- Eliminate what you shouldn't choose
- Your reference has been contacted
If there are still two or more agents in a row, then you need to go with your gut to see who impressed you the most. Do you have a better option to match with any of them?
You will be working closely with this person, so remember that you can make decisions with peace of mind. Once you know which realtor to choose, please pick up the phone and tell them you've decided to choose them to sell your home. They will go through a contract with you and explain the next steps.
This is where your home selling journey begins.
Conclusion
Choosing the right real estate agent while selling your property, your decisions affect how quickly you sell and how much money you take. If you followed everything we discussed, you could sell your home to someone who puts your profits above commission checks.
We want someone who will listen and ask questions, not someone who talks all the time, and a positive attitude and low ego are essential. Your needs must come first. Find the best real estate agents and brokers in Qatar on the Saakin website.
Read More: How To Be A Real Estate Investor in Qatar for Beginners