Lindsay: we are considering selling our home and have interviewed a couple of local agents. My sister who lives out of town has recommended that we interview the agent who sold her home. The agents office is about a hour drive from our property. What are the differences in choosing a local agent as opposed to one from another town such as Toronto or Mississauga?
Carole Thanks for the great question Carole. When I first started selling real estate in the mid 1980’s things were considerably different, with limited access to information on homes. With the public having more access to homes online one would think that using an out of town or a local agent would make little difference. Let’s take some time and explore the differences.
Choosing either agent, your home will most likely be marketed on the Multiple Listing System; this is a given. (the only MLS system is with the Toronto Real Estate Board) However, once the home is on the MLS system you might see some differences that can help or hinder.
Once the home is placed on MLS how does the agent attract serious buyers to your home?
- Go thru the leads in their database that they have collected. Contacting all of the leads that have called or emailed the agent on other properties similar to the one listed for sale.
- Advertise the home in the best local newspaper (Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington This Week) – Network the property with your office colleagues and the sphere of local agents.
- Hold an agent open house – Upload the property to your website and place the virtual tour on web sites that buyers who are local frequent.
- Host a public open house and advertise the home to the public in ways that have been proven effective.
- Market the home to the data base of agents who have shown other local listings.
Having the experience to market homes in ways that are effective is one of the most important issues to selling a home. Marketing a home in the country is much different than a condo in downtown Toronto. Knowing the tools the local buyers use to look for homes allows the marketing to placed in front of the most buyers. Once the agent has attracted a buyer who is interested other factors come into play.
Buyers tend to ask similar questions when responding to an ad. Questions such as: where is the closest Catholic school, where is the best shop to buy steaks or which bus takes me to the GO Train are some of the common questions buyer ask. Buyers purchase homes to meet their lifestyle needs. It is not unusual for a buyer to ask dozens of questions about services, schooling and leisure options when “scoping” out a potential home. I recently had a client looking in a particular area because their son played for a rep hockey team and with other parents living in that neighbourhood the car-pooling would be much easier.
Once the buyer has found a home from some marketing method and made the decision to view the home, how fast can the agent be at the property to show it to the buyer? It is not unusual for a buyer to call me from a brochure on the sign post or from the “for sale” sign and request a showing in the next half hour. If the agent’s office is close by, the showing can happen quickly. Many out of town buyers wander our area and ask for showings of homes they in front of in their car. If the agent is unavailable the buyer moves on. If the agent is available the showing happens. Buyers like easy. Homes that are easy to find with effective marketing, easy to view when they get excited about the property and agents that are flexible and easy to contact.
Carole, local and out of town agents offer very different services. I would suggest interviewing several agents, using the above ideas to help you form your questions and choosing the best person for the job. For more information on how to choose an agent to help sell your home or for archived articles on the home selling/ buying process go to www.soldbylindsay.com
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Published Article: Oshawa, Whitby, Clarington This Week – Do I Choose a Local or out of town Realtor to sell my home?
Carole Thanks for the great question Carole. When I first started selling real estate in the mid 1980’s things were considerably different, with limited access to information on homes. With the public having more access to homes online one would think that using an out of town or a local agent would make little difference. Let’s take some time and explore the differences.
Choosing either agent, your home will most likely be marketed on the Multiple Listing System; this is a given. (the only MLS system is with the Toronto Real Estate Board) However, once the home is on the MLS system you might see some differences that can help or hinder.
Once the home is placed on MLS how does the agent attract serious buyers to your home?
- Go thru the leads in their database that they have collected. Contacting all of the leads that have called or emailed the agent on other properties similar to the one listed for sale.
- Advertise the home in the best local newspaper (Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington This Week) – Network the property with your office colleagues and the sphere of local agents.
- Hold an agent open house – Upload the property to your website and place the virtual tour on web sites that buyers who are local frequent.
- Host a public open house and advertise the home to the public in ways that have been proven effective.
- Market the home to the data base of agents who have shown other local listings.
Having the experience to market homes in ways that are effective is one of the most important issues to selling a home. Marketing a home in the country is much different than a condo in downtown Toronto. Knowing the tools the local buyers use to look for homes allows the marketing to placed in front of the most buyers. Once the agent has attracted a buyer who is interested other factors come into play.
Buyers tend to ask similar questions when responding to an ad. Questions such as: where is the closest Catholic school, where is the best shop to buy steaks or which bus takes me to the GO Train are some of the common questions buyer ask. Buyers purchase homes to meet their lifestyle needs. It is not unusual for a buyer to ask dozens of questions about services, schooling and leisure options when “scoping” out a potential home. I recently had a client looking in a particular area because their son played for a rep hockey team and with other parents living in that neighbourhood the car-pooling would be much easier.
Once the buyer has found a home from some marketing method and made the decision to view the home, how fast can the agent be at the property to show it to the buyer? It is not unusual for a buyer to call me from a brochure on the sign post or from the “for sale” sign and request a showing in the next half hour. If the agent’s office is close by, the showing can happen quickly. Many out of town buyers wander our area and ask for showings of homes they in front of in their car. If the agent is unavailable the buyer moves on. If the agent is available the showing happens. Buyers like easy. Homes that are easy to find with effective marketing, easy to view when they get excited about the property and agents that are flexible and easy to contact.
Carole, local and out of town agents offer very different services. I would suggest interviewing several agents, using the above ideas to help you form your questions and choosing the best person for the job. For more information on how to choose an agent to help sell your home or for archived articles on the home selling/ buying process go to www.soldbylindsay.com