When you decide to list your home for sale, I can almost guarantee you that every real estate agent you speak with will advise you that your home will be featured in the multiple listing service or MLS.

For lack of a better term, the MLS is the default database used by agents to see what homes are available for sale and to also determine how to price your home. The MLS contains tremendous amounts of information that can be used in a market evaluation for your property. A critical first step in the marketing of your property is insuring the listing information to be complete and correct and also that the listing contains several pictures. If someone is searching Pasadena CA homes for sale, you want your home presented in the best possible manner, otherwise it may be ignored.

The marketing of real estate is evolving from newspapers and other print vehicles to online content which gives your property the unique advantage of being on sale 24/7 as opposed to the Sunday paper that is in the trash by noon. Since many other websites pull content from the MLS, it’s imperative that when your property is entered and published to the world electronically, it be accurate, informative and complete.

Beware the ‘In House” Move

One of the selling points used by an agent to obtain your business is to tell you they will parade their office agents through your house prior to making it available to the public. As if this is some kind of benefit to you. Understand the quantity approach compared to the quality approach. It doesn’t matter how many people visit your home if they do not have a client looking for a house like yours. Your only interest should be in that one interested party, not in having the “Bus Stop” in front of your home. I have always heard that if you cannot “Dazzle them with Brilliance; Baffle them with Bulls–t”. Don’t let yourself be BAFFLED!

Furthermore, beware of your agent attempting to sell the property within their own brokerage company. Quite often, a listing agent through a managing broker will require the property to remain “in house” before allowing other agents the opportunity to see it or know that it is for sale. Brokerage companies love to double end commissions. This eliminates many of the potential buyers for your home, possibly forcing you to accept less money for your house. This tactic only benefits one party, the listing broker.

I’ve never really quite understood the fact that we as real estate agents have a fiduciary duty to our clients to put their interest above all others, when so many agents and their sponsoring brokers would sell a home in this fashion before introducing it to the masses. Surely, there is no greed in a real estate transaction, is there?

Tags: homes for sale, interviewing real estate agents, Selling Your Home