How Do I Find and Interview A Realtor to Sell My Home? Part One.

Selling your home can be one of he most exciting, emotional and stressful experiences of your life and it is definitely one of the largest transactions. So who do you trust with such a monumental task?  Just the thought of finding someone to help you can be overwhelming.

90% of buyers start their home search on line. So, should you start here too if you plan on selling? Maybe but, personally, I feel the most important thing to do is find a LOCAL and reputable agent. So how do you go about doing that?

1.  Yes, you can go on-line, you want a technology savvy agent afterall. You can try a “Google” search but it could take you a long time to narrow it down if you enter something like Fullerton real estate, Placentia real estate or Brea real estate.

2. Try going “hyper local” if you live in a neighborhood like Downtown Fullerton or Golden Hills Fullerton, that will help you narrow it down your search. You can evern be more specific by searching by street such as Jacaranda house for sale, Malvern St. house for Sale, Amerige St. house for sale. Warning – you might get a lot of randomness here so only try this if the neighborhood isn’t working.

3.  Ask your previous neighbors if you are still in contact with the realtor that sold their home.  Were they happy with the agent they used?

4. Signs and Marketing? Who has listings in your area? Drive around. Has that same person left you marketing materials. Do they send you invitations to open houses?  Have you met them. Most Fullerton Neighborhoods should have a dominant real estate agent.

5. Who do you know that sells real estate in the area? Tread cauciously. Just because you know them and they are a nice person, you want to make sure that they are knowlegable and know your neighborhood.

4. Once you have narrowed it down to a few, CHECK THEM OUT. Let’s face it, not all agents are created equally.

• First place to check them out is:  www.dre.ca.gov, plug in their license number (legally it must be listed on their marketing) but if not, you can plug in their name. From here you can find out how long they have been licensed and if they have any violations.
• Check out their testimonials/Reveiws:  This is tough because pretty much anyone can post anything they want online butI have found that www.Yelp.com is fast becoming a great resource. You can real real testimonials. Yelp has crazy filters so they work hard to make sure that the reviews aren’t made up.
• Check to see if they are members of local organizations like the local Chamber. If you have a Fullerton home to sell, definitely check out www.fullertonchamber.com. You can even call the nice folks at the Fullerton Chamber and ask them about the Fullerton real estate agent.

Ok, so they past the first test and look like they might be worth considering.  What should you do next?  This, we are going to save for part two.  Be sure to check back.