How is one Listing Agent different from another?

Question

Frankly I have a hard time understanding what a listing agent does, besides list the property. How is one listing agent better than another? From my perspective, a listing agent merely lists the property, then tells you where you didn't fill the forms out correctly for escrow.

I know there are exceptions, especially for me as I rehab properties all over the country.  My listing agent watches out during the rehab at no fee.  She will get her fee when I sell the property.  However, I don't see a lot of differences when it comes to the selling process on how one is any different than the other.

Comments?

Thomas Quinn · Answer

The difference is when you run into problems a good agent keeps the transaction together.

Monica Breckenridge · Answer

I can definitely say being a Realtor myself that there are good Realtors and bad Realtors out there. I've seen Realtors just stick one photo in the MLS, no description, bare minimum information.  I would say marketing is what drives people to the door.  A good listing agent does such a good job marketing that they often sell their own listings.  They shouldn't just stick the home in the MLS.  I list homes for fix and flippers and I always go above and beyond.  We take professional photographs for all our homes.  We stage every one of our listings that isn't a short sale.  We do a virtual video walk-through of all our listings.  We have a virtual floor-plan where clients can see the floor-plan and interact with it.  We have accounts with Homes.com, Trulia.com, Zillow.com, Realtor.com and enhance the listing here with more photo's, add the virtual tour here.  Most realtors don't pay to get their own leads on these sites.  What happens is they automatically feed to these sites and if you don't pay for the lead it goes to somebody who does.  That person's job isn't to sell the house.  So I pay for my leads and spend over $100k a year on these websites.  I have my own in-house leads coordinator so no lead gets dropped and they all get called within minutes.

Then once you get an offer you need somebody who is a killer negotiator for you.  There are some realtors who absolutely hate doing this.  The realtor is working for you and needs to get you the highest and best price possible. So a powerful negotiator is what you need.

Once your under contract a good realtor knows how to keep the transaction together and follows up on the buyers loan progress and getting it to the closing table.  They are able to overcome obstacles.  We close some of the most difficult transactions.  You need a fighter and a go getter.  Somebody who never gives up.

I hope this helps you.

Penny I. · Answer

Great list Bryan! I would add - help the seller get the home ready for sale, decluttering, staging...making it easy for buyers to imagine themselves there. This can be quite a process, depending on the sellers ; )

Bryan L. · Answer

@Jean Norton - Jean, I am an investor/Realtor. The truth is that simply putting the property into the MLS (correctly) is 90% of what a listing agent should do. So, it's difficult for any listing agent to really set themselves as head-and-shoulders above the average Realtor, since all Realtors place their listings in the MLS. But it's really quite easy to separate yourself from the "bad" Realtors. The problem though, is that most people in the general public do not really know what goes on behind the scenes, so they don't really know the difference between the great, the good, and the bad. In my opinion, a "great" listing agent should do the things that I will list below, and should do them well. Many of these things that I will list are things that you would assume every Realtor does, but you would be surprised.

- Advertise and market the property in additional venues besides the MLS, depending on which venues work well locally.

- Make sure that all listing information and advertisements are well written, accurate, descriptive, and inviting to potential buyers.

- Make sure that the property has great photographs and that the photos are displayed in the proper order.

- Help the seller to establish the correct list price based on the local comps and market conditions.

- Advise the seller about any issues related to the property that might effect it's sale.

- Negotiate on behalf of the seller in order to get the best deal possible for the seller.

- Follow up with the agents who show the property to get feed-back and advise the seller of the feed-back and any appropriate actions that should be taken.

- Make sure that all advertising complies with all rules, regulations, and laws effecting the property.

- Help the seller to find good service providers (if needed) such as attorneys, termite companies, etc.

- Receive all offers on the property, review and evaluate the offers, and advise the seller relating to the offer.

- Once the property goes under contract (in some areas the term is "open escrow") follow up with the buyer's agent relating to the buyer's progress toward closing on time.

- Prior to closing, review the preliminary HUD-1 settlement statement and make sure there are no errors. Then, review the preliminary statement with the sellers.

- At closing, make sure that the settlement papers are still accurate and complete.

- I'm sure that there are many items that I'm overlooking at the moment with the baby crying in the back-ground, so maybe some others will chime is as well.

How is one Listing Agent different from another?

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