When you’re building your portfolio, your aim should be to retain as many properties as possible. In some cases though, selling may be part of your strategy.
When it comes to selling, having a great agent on your side can make a huge difference to your overall success. These people are trained, experienced and passionate about the real estate game and can help guide you in the right direction for fast and efficient portfolio growth.
But how do you find a great agent? It’s not always the cheapest or loudest who are going to get you the best dollar for your property.
Real estate expert Tom Panos coaches and mentors agents and individuals across the country towards million- dollar listings and lifelong success in the property game. He has many career roles, including founder of the Real Estate Gym and the 5 am Club, the Real Estate Advertising Director for News Corp, weekly iTunes podcast contributor with fellow real estate expert John McGrath on Million Dollar Agent and is one of Sydney’s leading Real Estate Auctioneers.
He is also regularly sought after as a keynote speaker at industry events and a regular commentator on SKY News Business each week. He inspires, encourages and educates many on the ups and downs of the property market, drawing on many years of personal experience and learning.
In one of his segments with SKY News Business – Your Property Empire, Tom shared his top three tips for finding a great selling agent.
TIP ONE
“There are three things I see vendors [sellers] doing wrong when selecting an agent. The first is they select an agent for selling based on the price the agent gives them…Let’s be very clear, there’s this thing that often happens where agents go in and overprice to get the listing. There used to be a saying that ‘the biggest lie gets the job’. The bottom line is, do not list with an agent that comes in and tells you telephone numbers when the reality is the market is going to determine what the property is going to sell for,” Tom said.
The lesson here is to do your own research and really get to know the area you are looking to sell in. Take time to browse newspaper listings, search property listings online, and even go for a drive around the area (if possible) to see what the demand is like. If there seems to be a lot of properties for sale in your street, see if you can find out why.
TIP TWO
“The second biggest mistake I see with vendors is that they decide that they don’t
want to market the property… You can’t sell a secret. Generally speaking, the best properties that get the best prices are those that are the best marketed.”
Tom’s tip here is, when looking to sell a property, spend some money on getting it seen. The more people are aware of what you have to offer, the greater competition you create and more potential buyers knock on your door. A great real estate sales agent will be a great marketer and be able to offer sound guidance on where and how to advertise your property.
TIP THREE
“Don’t go with the person that gives you the lowest fee. The reality is, that real estate agent is purely going to win business because they’ve got nothing else to offer but a low fee. That should raise alarm bells for a vendor. What you really want is not an agent with the lowest fee; you want an agent that’s got the best negotiation ability, the track record, the ability to get people to fight over a property, because we know competition wins the Olympic Games gold medal – and competition gets top dollar in real estate.”
“The cheapest agent and the best agent are generally not the same person.”
Before settling on an agent, find out a little about their experience, training and qualifications, recent sales and history in the industry. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, after all, you are putting a lot of trust in their ability to make the best decisions for you and your journey towards wealth creation.
For more information on tom panos visit:
www.tompanos.com.au
For the full sky business interview, see:
www.oneagencygroup.com/category/real-estate-trainers/tom-panos/
