Maybe you need a change and are thinking of selling your Naperville home. You tell yourself…”Just buy a sign and put it out front, have some weekend open houses, put an ad in the paper, and save thousands of those hard-earned buckaroos.” That’s easy thinking but it is not so easy to pull off a sale without professional help. In fact, over ninety percent of homes in North America, including Naperville homes, end up being sold through a real-estate agent for good reason. Most of the “sell it yourself” homes just don’t sell and end up being listed by a skilled real-estate agent after a frustrating round on the market.
To help you discriminate, here are some important characteristics of a good Naperville real-estate agent:
1. Knows local market
2. Provides open and ongoing communication
3. Offers fair evaluation of property
4. Recommend changes to make home saleable
5. Puts together a marketing strategy
6. Provides sounds advice and negotiation skills
A good real estate agent knows the local market. The person is communicative and you have a repertoire with him or her. An honest Realtor will fairly evaluate the worth of your home based on recent comparable home sales in the area so that you can set a realistic price. An inferior agent will try to get the listing by escalating the price and when it doesn’t sell, you are forced to lower the price.
A good real estate agent will recommend specific upgrades like painting, replacing damaged items, and removing pet and smoker’s odors to make your home saleable. Anxious agents will ignore problems so as to not rock the boat.
Good agents study the area, put together a marketing plan, and are able to tell you exactly how they plan to sell the home. The plan may be a series of ads, a number of open houses, being available to show during evenings and weekends. Avoid the agent that will list the home on Multiple Listings, post a sign out front, and disappear. Good agents are accessible and keep you informed about progress whereas questionable agents are hard to reach and can be unorganized.
When an offer comes in, a good agent provides sound advice and uses negotiating skills that can mean a difference of thousands of dollars. Stay away from agents who would encourage you to accept any offer so they can be paid and move on.
Really, selling your home can be a comfortable experience if you have the right real-estate agent rooting for you. So don’t be afraid to interview, ask questions, and find the right one for you. Contact Larry Shakman at 630-921-0611 or Larry@FeaturedHome.com for assistance in selling your home.
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Editor
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Sellers
