Select A Real Estate Agent

Your selection of a real estate Agent is an important decision. After all, you will be working with this professional, trusted advisor for perhaps many months, relying upon his/her guidance to help you make better and more profitable decisions. Your Agent will have a fiduciary responsibility to you, and will be advising and guiding you through the myriad steps involved getting your house sold and you to settlement -- from the selection of a sales price, to the placement of your property on the market, to the acceptance & signing of the sales contract, to the fulfillment of your responsibilities per Pennsylvania law and per the terms of the sales contract, to the preparation of the required forms involved to make settlement possible. {See Step #2: Learn About The Selling Process.} Obviously, you will want to carefully consider your decision and you should understand agency relationships in general.

We suggest you consider two to three real estate Agents, who are preferably local and referred to you by family, friends, or co-workers. These Agents should be willing to make a formal "listing presentation" to you in your home. During this presentation, you will have the opportunity to evaluate the message and the messenger.

The Message: During this presentation, the real estate Agent should:

- Provide & explain the Consumer Notice. This PA required disclosure outlines how the Agent proposes to represent you, and the related obligations thereof.

- Provide & explain the Seller's Property Disclosure Statement. This PA-required disclosure details your knowledge of your property's condition.

- Inspect your house, discussing both positive and negative aspects.

- Discuss your motivations selling the property, your time-frame, expectations, and your concerns.

- Present a current Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) so that you can make an informed pricing decision and agree upon the listing price.

- Discuss what personal property, if any, you want included with the house sale.

- Discuss and agree upon the marketing campaign of your property.

- Explain the various types of listing contracts and agree upon the appropriate contract and term that both meets your needs and is acceptable to the Agent's real estate brokerage.

- Discuss and agree upon how the Agent will "service your listing" -- the duties the Agent will perform for you.

- Discuss and agree upon the Agent's fee, based upon the level of representation, the type and term of the listing contract, the extent of marketing, and the duties of the Agent.

- Discuss if the real estate Agent's company imposes any charges, typically called "broker service," or "conveyancing" fees.

- Provide a written estimate of closing costs and net seller proceeds.

The Messenger

Naturally, your personal regard for each Agent is highly subjective. But, we suggest you evaluate the following characteristics - thoroughness (detail-oriented), honesty, knowledge, work ethic, and reliability. Be careful of the Agent that tells you what you want to hear, and not necessarily what you should hear.

Overpricing your house creates longer marketing time-frames and your property to be considered a "stale listing." In this scenario, you ultimately will be forced to lower the price (possibly more than once) and you have wasted valuable time. And, even if you captured your higher than market price, you could still be forced to lower it later, due to appraisal problems in the middle of the transaction.

Lastly, be careful of the Agent who concentrates on their past performance - average listing time, percentage of final sales price compared with initial price, etc.. Despite an Agent's best efforts, real estate is like any other market, it's cyclical and heavily dependent upon supply and demand. Remember the disclaimer of all stock funds: "Past performance is no guarantee of future results."

We hope you consider Professional Realty Consultants, LLC (PRC) to represent and help you through the selling process. See About PRC. Our concept is unique in the real estate industry in that one person can sell, find and finance your new home. And, PRC takes pride in that we never impose any office fees, such as "broker service" or "conveyancing" fees. This equates to a $350 - $500 savings to you. Additionally, PRC has no affiliation with, nor owns a title insurance company. As such, we encourage you take advantage of your federal right to shop and select your own provider. If you would like some recommendations of discount title insurance companies, we can provide such contact information to you upon request. This unique philosophy and business structure will additionally save you at least $200 compared with the typical real estate office owned or affiliated title insurance company. In total, this saves our clients at least $750 in every transaction. With respect to honesty, work ethic, reliability, and attention to detail, click here for Reviews from previous customers. 100% of our 2018 clients were either previous customers or referred by previous customers.