Choosing a real estate agent to list you home- What are you paying for?

A Brokers Open The first thing you should expect of your real estate broker is a "brokers open," which is part of an open house tour, usually on a week day, held specifically in order for brokers to preview new inventory and familiarize themselves with the features of your home before presenting it to prospects. By the way, homes have been sold during brokers opens by home buyers who stopped in while cruising the neighborhood!

You should also expect him to serve some kind of refreshment. If your agent tells you that it's not worthwhile, that the brokers "only come to eat," tell him or her that's precisely the reason why you expect him to serve something. It's no secret that brokers, like other rational humans, will go where there's food, open houses included.

The marketing of your home is a kind of courtship, and the more suitors who view your home, the more likely you are to sell it- and in a timely fashion. That's why it's so important to price your home correctly, right out of the box. All the food in the world can't help brokers sell an over-priced home.

You're also entitled to a Sunday open house, at least one Sunday a month (we hope it sells in 30 days). Yes. Undoubtedly, you'll get some "nosy neighbors." Let's hope so. Someone who likes his neighborhood enough to go to an open house is the best kind of advertising. Let's also hope that a home buyer who comes to your open house asks your neighbor about the neighborhood- he'll most likely rave! And if the neighbors come to your open because they're thinking of putting their house on the market too, let's make absolutely certain that your house is perfectly priced - so that yours is the one that sells first!

Yes, we understand. You work hard all week and you don't want to have to vacate your home on your day off for an open house. As much as we're sympathetic, open houses are important.

Here in Central New York, industry research suggests a strong correlation between open houses and the reading of real estate ads. That means that open house ads are read, and ads for houses that are for sale, but not open, are not read.

Frequently, those non-open ads are run as a substitute for an open house by an agent who is too busy to hold one. If your agent can't hold it himself, he's responsible for finding an agent who can. Let's also say here that you shouldn't offer to hold it open yourself. That's your agent's job, not yours, and it's one of the reasons he earns his fee-for-service (commission). Another reason (among many) for not holding your own house open for your agent is that it puts you in direct contact with the buyer and his agent. This does not optimize your negotiating position, to say the least.

Internet Knowledge, Expertise, and Presence
Currently, around 70 percent of home buyers do their research on-line. That means that if your house isn't fully available to internet home buyers, it's not being marketed effectively and you're losing buying prospects. Make sure that the agent you choose is internet-saavy and works for an agency that has up-to-the-minute internet capabilities and a staff who can implement them.

Visit the websites of the real estate brokerages in your area and evaluate for yourself the sites' ease of navigation, quality and number of photos, content, appropriate and easy to use links and FAQS. While you're at it, check out ours at www.prudentialfirstproperties.com .

Photos and Virtual Tours
This means that there should be the maximum allowable number of (good quality) photos of your home, interior and exterior, at the very least, and more if the agency's website has the capability to present more photos than the local multiple listing service. At www.prudentialfirstproperties.com , we have the ability to post up to 20 photos.

You should also ask to see the agency's internet posting of your home. That way, if the photos are of poor quality, or, worse still, not there at all, you can hold your agent accountable. A reliable agent will be mortified (our local board fines us if the listing photo is missling) and take care of it immediately. Accidents happen, but follow through to make sure the omission was corrected.

Depending upon the competition, market price, and other factors, it may be in your best interest to ask for a virtual tour. As a rule, the more expensive the home, the more this is true. It goes without saying that a virtual tour of a home that's not in tip top condition is more likely to turn buyers away than bring them in. This is also true of still photos. If you haven't maintained the front of your property, you can't blame your realtor for a bad photo. If you don't like what you see, neither will a prospective buyer. Do what's necessary, and request that your realtor take a new picture.

It's also true that it's entirely reasonable that the agent who spends out of pocket to pay for your home's virtual tour asks you to extend your listing contract. After all, you're asking for him or her to commit to extra marketing expense, it's only reasonable that he or she have the extra marketing time that a more expensive home frequently requires.

Make sure you get to see the "Realtor's View Residential Listing Sheet" for your home. This is your opportunity to make sure that all the information on the listing is correct, and that your home is presented in the best possible light. We hope your agent has some flair when it comes to writing copy, as well as a good and accurate sense of direction so that agents can find it - without getting lost! You have the right to hold your agent responsible for correct directions to your property.