I’m amazed at how many people will hire the first real estate agent that they interview. I mean, you never buy the first car you test drive, order the first item you see on the menu, hire the first job seeker you interview, and women don’t sleep with the first person that tells them they’re pretty. However if I’m wrong about the latter, then may I be the first to tell my female readership how pretty you look reading this article.
It’s been a well proven fact that most people will hire the first real estate agent they interview. Agents know this and count on it. I’ve seen it happen countless times during my career at AgentHarvest, even though we stress the importance of interviewing multiple agents. While it provides a great advantage to the “early bird” agent, it rarely benefits the homeowner. You must talk to at least two or three agents and compare each agent’s offerings, advantages and disadvantages. Then you must weigh the factors and determine which agent best fulfills your needs.
If you fall in love with a real estate agent right away, it’s okay to wait a few days before hiring them. If you still love that real estate agent after meeting other agents then you’ll know that’s the right agent for you.
There are several advantages to interviewing multiple real estate agents
By interviewing several candidates, you will:
- Get multiple opinions regarding home improvements
- Receive several estimates of what your house could sell for
- Be able to spot agents that will promise anything just to get a listing
- Have multiple marketing packets to compare
- Receive multiple opinions of your area’s current market volume
- Be able to compare agent personalities
- Feel more confident that you hired the right agent
If you hire the first agent you meet then all I can say is good luck. Do yourself a favor and interview at least two or three agents before hiring an agent to list your house. A good agent will not mind waiting to find out if they got the listing. Sure it’s a lot of work interviewing agents, but it’s also a lot of work keeping your house show-ready on the market for months or even years longer than necessary because you chose the wrong agent.
How to find the right agents to interview
When shopping for a real estate agent, you’ll want to find agents that are currently selling houses, similar to yours, in your neighborhood. AgentHarvest has a free real estate agent finder service that can find the agents currently selling houses in your area. It’s a free service with no obligations or contracts to sign and best of all, you will meet great agents that sell homes. Find out why Agent Harvesting is the best way to find Realtors.
If you are buying or selling a house and are looking to hire a successful real estate agent to help you through the process, take a look at AgentHarvest's list of top-ranking local Realtors in your area. We found these agents by examining their sales track records, awards, rankings, client testimonials and by conducting personal interviews.