Don't Hire A REALTOR That Is Too Faraway To Service Your Listing

As I was going to visit one of my listings this morning I passed a home with a for sale sign on it that I did not recognize. After looking at the phone number, I realized that this home had been listed by a company that was at least an hour away from Zephyrhills. Why would anyone list their home with someone that was so faraway from the market where the home was being marketed when there are many excellent agents close-at-hand? I believe this is often due to sellers looking for agents on the internet. The web is a great resource, but often the search results are not very reliable when it comes to finding a local agent. Here are some of the reasons that make the use of a local professional imperative if you want to achieve your goals.

• Local agents know the market better in the areas where they work and live. They will be better able to help you price your home correctly and market it effectively, thus avoiding frustrating months waiting for offers that never materialize.
• Local agents are better able to service your listing. Is an agent going to drive a hour or more to fill the information box, put up signs, install the lockbox, let repairman into the home, have open houses, give agents tours, etc.?
• Will your distant agent be there to show the home, or will he/she call you and leave it up to you to let strangers into your home?
• Local agents have formed a network with their colleagues in other local real estate offices and this makes it easy for them to tell others about your home. Many of my sales have come from casual chats with my fellow agents over lunch. Networking can only work within a limited area. Local agents have access to that network.
• You will have greater access to a local agent. Sometimes you just need to meet with your REALTOR face-to-face. Often two or three times a week. Do you think a faraway agent will drive to your home 2 or 2 times to have a chat with you? I had one agent that even refused to bring the purchase offer to his sellers and I had to deliver it. He was so unmotivated that I also had to take him his sign and lockbox since he did not want to drive way up here to pick them up!
• Will the long-distance agent know the area well? Will he know which subdivisions are deed restricted? Is the home in the city or the county? Where are the flood zones? What plans does the local government have for the area near the home? Does he know how to spell the name of the town, street, subdivision? Don't laugh, it happens all the time and it hurts when people are trying to search for homes on the internet. One wrong letter and they can miss your home altogether.
• Local agents have developed working relationships with service providers like title insurance companies, repairman, pest control experts, professional inspectors, etc. Often they know who does a good job for a good price and who should be avoided.
• Local agents can also provide your buyers with contact information for local financial institutions that can often be more flexible than the banking giants.
• Local agents know which types of advertising work and do not work in their areas. For example, large newspapers in my area seldom bring inquiries, but the local real estate magazine and internet exposure do.

So when you are searching for a REALTOR® to sell your home, one of your first questions should be "How faraway do you live and work from MY home?" If the answer is more than 20 minutes, I would keep looking and try find someone closer. If you are in a very rural area you may need to stretch that a bit. However, most of you live within close proximity to some excellent agents.

Also be aware that if you use a search engine like Google or Yahoo and enter terms like "real estate agents Zephyrhills" or "Realtor Wilmington", most of the first page of the search results and even into the second will be referral services. They will fill their results with the name of the city you are searching in to make it look like they are local, but in reality they could be at the other end of the country. Each week these types of companies call me trying to get me use them. The only qualification for being chosen by them is the ability to pay their fee. The agent they recommend could be great or completely incompetent. When they have tried to solicit me, they have never asked me how many homes I have sold, what type of training I have had, how long I have been in the business, or what I do to serve my customers best. As long as I have the cash, I qualify. So my suggestion to you is to scroll through a few more pages until you find an actual name of a local REALTOR or a local company that you recognize. Then interview agents and do not leave your decision to a referral service that is not local and does not know the people that they are referring to you. Selling and/or buying a home is too important!

For more information or questions about this topic please call me at: 813-783-4444 or e-mail me at: jelwell1@tampabay.rr.com 

I also invite you to visit my webpage at:  www.jelwell.century21bnr.com