In my last posting, I presented 3 additional questions to ask your potential agent. My interest in this topic was as a result of a June 14th blog by Joyce Murphy who writes the North Kona Home Sales blog (Please see her Blog http://blogs.alohaliving.com/north-kona-home-sales/ for the full article) post. My first three questions were:
1) How long have you lived on Kauai? (or Hawaii or..)
2) What professional designations do you have?
3) Do you have a website?
These are the additonal 3 questions I would ask my prospective agent:
4) Does your website have the entire MLS on it? Any agent can coordinate with their local MLS service provider to have the entire MLS on their website. If you are a seller, you want buyers to come to your agent’s website for greater exposure of your property. Most agents have a separate listing section where only their listings are presented, usually called “Featured listings.” When buyers click here, they will see your property before seeing everything else on the market. If you are a buyer, you want a website where you can see the entire MLS at one place.
5) Can you scan in fax or email a purchase contract, listing contract or any other document to me? Ease and clarity of the transaction are critical to busy clients, especially if you are on the mainland in a different time zone with the typical busy life. Even faxing is falling by the wayside, replaced instead “efax” which enables an agent to both receive faxes from a conventional fax machine into their computer or to scan in a document to their computer fax it to a conventional fax machine.
One advantage efax I have found, besides the obvious that you can send and receive faxes from just about any computer, is that the fax comes through with less distortion and greater clarity efax. Don’t ask me why- I don’t know how the technology works, just that it does.
6) How will you keep me informed and how often will I hear from you? This is a good question in today’s market where we are seeing longer market time for properties. It used to be that you’d put a property on the MLS and contact with your client was a natural result of giving feedback for the many showings. Not so anymore. Will your agent keep you informed as to what, if any, market activity is taking place in your area? This is helpful for both buyers and sellers.
Of course, none of the above guarantees a good agent, and nothing should dissuade you from using a new agent if they have the time, ability and backup to assist you in achieving your real estate goals. New agents often have more time to devote to you as they usually have fewer clients starting out.
The most important question is, do you feel comfortable with the agent? If the answer is yes, then give that agent a chance, whether old or new, to work for you! Ask the other questions, but remember, your intuition is often right on the mark!
Hope this helps in choosing your real estate agent for your next transaction.
Aloha,
Elaine Schaefer
c: 808 639 2935
email: soldonkauai@yahoo.com
website: www.kauaiforsale.com
www.kauairealestatenow.com
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