You know what they say – the proof is in the pudding! Before hiring an agent, you should check out the agent to see what reviews they’ve had on sites like Zillow, Yelp, and Reach150. On Zillow, you can actually see their transaction history which may be incomplete or erroneous, but it’s a good place to start.
Just to go the agent’s Zillow profile – don’t look on the reviews, but look on the Overview tab. There you can see their present listings and past sales. By clicking on these listings, current or sold, you can get an idea for the kind of marketing that your home will receive from the agent.
Even though their transactions may be listed on their Zillow profile, go ahead and ask the agent for a list of the five most recent homes they listed and sold, and what the listing and sold dates were for those listings. Check to see if the list they gives you matches with what’s on Zillow, and ask about any discrepancies. If there is a home listed as a recent sale on Zillow but you don’t see it on their list, that could be a listing they don’t want to talk about – so dig deep on that one!
You can also ask to see copies of the marketing flyers they prepared for these or other listings, and also ask to see any virtual tours or videos that they may have prepared. If they don’t have any flyers, videos, or virtual tours they can show you, that’s also an indication of how your home will be marketed as well.
Hate to wait?
