Hiring the ‘Pro’ Quarterback

It’s good to see sellers interviewing multiple agents prior to listing. It’s an essential step when you don’t have an established relationship with an agent. It’s important to ensure the best fit between agent, seller and property but comparing isn’t always easy. But where is a seller to begin? A listing presentation is absolutely essential! An agent without one is demonstrating they lack a road map for getting the property sold.

Importance of Staging and Photography

Another good place to start is to virtually preview a “nominee’s” other listings. How are the photos? While iPhones cameras are an amazing tool, they can’t duplicate the job of a professional photographer. Prepping the property even before the photographer gets there is key to moving a buyer into the home…which is exactly where you want them to be. Professional staging can be expensive but very necessary. There are several staging models. I choose to provide my own staging equipment/team who generally do a full staging vs. staging only a portion of the home or a “virtual” staging. Like many of our services, it’s not free but is not charged to our sellers.

Virtual Tours

There’s more. Drones provide more than just an overhead shot. They demonstrate site selection, distance from neighbors and the like. While there are several virtual walk-through platforms, I prefer “Matterport.” Besides allowing a walk from room-to-room, the “doll-house” view makes it possible to look down into the home from above. It’s a great tool for measuring rooms and helping buyers understand room arrangements. One last tool is a different sort of drone (or gimble), which provides a video walk-through. Some are narrated. Which BTW, if your agent isn’t labeling the MLS photos, if they allow photos with the toilet seat up, clothes on the bed, dishes in the sink…might wanna re-think that particular quarterback selection.

Look at the Data

Looking for hard data to support your selection? Our MLS can calculate production and segregate by geographical area, residential vs vacant land, number of transactions and sales vs listings data. With over 600 agents in just our local professional organization, a quick look at the stats can be very telling. If your agent isn’t listed on at least page 1 of the report, it’s safe to say that your “quarterback” is not yet first string. This quarterback will be back again next week taking a deeper dive into the parallels between that game and “Your Super Transactions.” Enjoy the game!