Interview Questions for your Listing Agent (& Our Answers) Austin, TX

 What a big decision! Interviewing and hiring a listing agent will be the most important step in the home selling process. Your agent's expertise can mean the difference between achieving your financial goals and leaving money on the table. (Updated 12/2/2024)

Here is a list of interview questions to help! And if you are interviewing our team to get your home sold, then we have included our answers to help you get familiar with how we work to provide the best service and, most importantly, fetch the most money in the least amount of time, while protecting our clients' liability throughout the process (If you are also going to be buying a home, here are Interview Questions for Buyer Agents and my answers to help get the ball rolling. Ask us about your discount incentive when we help you plan to Sell and Buy a home). 

Side note: This post is long and extremely detailed. We appreciate you taking the time to read it before we meet. We are one of the top real estate teams in Central Texas (consistently in the top 500 teams in our market) and we are passionate about serving our clients at the highest level possible! And please review the Information About Brokerage Services and Consumer Protection Notice as I am legally obliged to provide you if you are considering hiring our team to work for you. I am licensed to sell real estate in Texas. 

We hope this blog will help anyone that reads it make the best decision when they are choosing an agent to help them or be a guide if you are thinking of selling your home on your own. And we further wish to help all brokers and agents in our industry raise their standard of service and improve the reputation of the real estate profession.

On to the interview!

 

1. How are you different from other agents?  

I love this question because there is only one way to answer it correctly and that is using statistics. Our listings, on average sell 51% faster and for 6% higher than the average agent in our market.

What does this mean for you? This means, on average, our clients are making $35K more than the average home seller in our market (our average sales price is $596,052 vs. $561,000) and our average days on market is 36 days less than the average days in the Austin Metro market at 70 days.

If an agent can not provide these statistics then be weary of hiring them. This is also the agent that is going to offer to discount commission to win your listing. Without knowing these statistics, you are taking a big risk and will most likely end up losing more money than you were trying to save. And our team has a flexible fee structure to cover all the options available to you and assure that you are make the most money when you sell your home. 

Go ahead, say it. You thought we were all alike, right?  Our team provides service and marketing that many agents would not even know how to implement (we will explain more of this below). 

2.  Are you a full-time agent? How much experience do you have?  

All great questions. Yes, I am a full-time Broker-Associate with Keller Williams Realty, Inc. (licensed since 2004) and CEO of Ivy Blessing Realty, LLC. Not only am I full time, I have the most amazing team that works with me that includes a Buyer's Agent, Full Time Operations Manager, Full Time Administrator, Transaction Coordinator and Marketing Manager. We also work with the best loan officer, escrow officer, stager and photographer in town. Yes, it takes a village to do this job properly and bring success at a high level. 

You may be asking, why do you need so many people? If you are interviewing an agent that works as an individual, my advice would be to move forward with that agent if you are their ONLY client.  There are 179 steps to preparing to list and get a home sold. What do you think happens when an individual agent gets more than one client? Yes, that is when some of the steps get skipped that will cost you money and/or that is when agents are unable to return phone calls when you need them or answer the phone when a prospect for your home is calling. (And side note, if you are their only client, which for the average agent is most likely true because the average agent sells 12 homes a year versus our average of 5 a month, then this agent is most likely not making enough money to market your home properly).

3. Will I be able to get a hold of you when I need talk to you? 

Another great question! We do our best to answer the phone whenever possible. This is another advantage to working with a team. If we are unable to answer the phone, we encourage the caller to send a text (and all team members can see this text and we have an agent on duty to assist outside of regular business hours. This agent will begin working on their request and text/call them back asap.) We often hear from prospects, "I called 5 agents and you were the only one that answered the phone or called me back right away." Again, individual agents get busy in our industry and overwhelmed and stop answering the phone when they get too many clients at once (just like a waiter at a restaurant that is given too many tables to serve at once).  This gives our profession a bad reputation unfortunately. 

4. How many homes have you sold in my neighborhood?

We have sold more than 600 homes from Buda to Georgetown. Here is a map showing where we have sold homes. We have not sold in every neighborhood in our market. The success of our team's marketing and organizational systems work in every neighborhood. We do not work in one area or price point because we are in this to help people (and I say this because you know there are agents only interested in taking yours listing if you are luxury or priced in the millions because they only want to sell 3-4 homes a year and vacation the rest of the time. Our team sells 50-60 homes a year. We are in this business to help people and protect them throughout the home selling process, whether their home is priced at $100,000 or $100,000,000.)

5. What marketing will you do to get my home sold and what do you do that is different from other agents? 

We will cover a lot of this when we meet, as many of our marketing strategies are proprietary and we can not post them here. Some of our strategies most agents wouldn't even begin to know how to implement. Here are some highlights from our marketing plan that may be implemented when we list your home: 

·                Mobile Marketing Strategy (Buyers do not have their computers with them all the time, majority are out driving around looking up things on their phone. Does your agent have a mobile marketing plan? Most do not. We do. And the #1 goal is to talk to that person looking up your home, get them pre-qualified and get them in the home asap.)

·                SEO Strategy (Search Engine Optimization) Google is the #1 site on the Internet. What plan does your agent have to get your property on the first page and at the top of Google? This plan should include securing key words, using blog and video, etc. We will show you this when we meet.

·                MLS Strategy  One MLS does not cut it these days, we have the ability to list on 5 that are in Central Texas and/or international (your property will be listed in 19 different languages and 55 different currencies). 

·                Professional Photography This should be a standard now for home selling and I cringe when this not the case. So important to look good on the Internet.

·                Professional Stager  We pay for the consultation and the stager's goal is to use your furniture and items to make the home look amazing for the photos and showings. You may elect to rent or buy furniture, yet we can discuss if this would be beneficial or not depending on market conditions.

·                3D Matterport Virtual Tour and Floor Plan: We also cringe when a "virtual tour" is marketed and it's a glorified slide show. That's not how we market properties. See a sample here. This is imperative for proper Internet marketing and has helped us attract more out of state buyers.  Side Note: The out-of-state buyer that is relocating for a job that is in town for one weekend to find the right home, statistically pays the most for homes. If you are planning to put your home on Zillow and sell your home on your own (which I completely respect and have a flexible fee structure to cover this scenario if this is the case) then you are most likely missing out on this buyer! You will attract plenty of investors, un-prequalified and un-serious lookey-loo buyers that will waste your time and tons of calls from agents claiming to have a buyer that really just wants to list your home. If you still want to go this direction without the help of a professional like me with proven success, then you may consider offering compensation to a buyer agent or concessions to buyer depending on the current market conditions. This buyer doesn't have much time to find a home and they are for sure working with one when they are in town that weekend to find their home. 

·                Pricing Strategy Price is a major part of the marketing strategy in attracting potential buyers. Here is a link to many of the pricing strategies and market analysis strategies we use to help you decide on the price to enter the market that will net you the most money. 

 Also, when the situation calls for it, we will consult with an appraiser regarding your price. Unless we hook a cash buyer (which many times we do), then the buyer is going to be financing and the bank is going to hire an appraiser to give an opinion of market value. This is where many contracts terminate with a less experienced agent. My experience and consultation with appraisers will play a big part in the success of your home sale, starting with the price you choose to enter the market and/or providing a rebuttal when the home appraises lower than sales price. So important to talk with your agent about his/her experience in this realm. Here is a sample Appraiser Packet that we may provide to the appraiser when your home is under contract. 

6. What is your negotiation experience and strategy?   

Another question in which there is only one right answer and many agents are going to get this wrong. I negotiate for you based on how YOU want me to negotiate for you. You are the boss. And I come across so many agents that do not work this way. For instance, an agent should not tell me they have another offer on the way unless their client has approved it. And agents do this all the time without thinking about it when I ask. 

 As your listing agent, I have a fiduciary duty to you and to hold your interests above my own. I will advise you with the different choices in every situation and tell you which choice I think is best and then proceed based on your decision. I take this job very seriously and the fiduciary duty. This is another aspect of the job in which many other agents in the industry are not performing correctly in my opinion. 

7. How much does it cost to sell my home? What fees should I expect?

During our meeting and once we agree on the list price, we will review a Seller Net Estimate document that I calculate for you. (By the way, this is another skill that I find many agents do not know how to do. Sad, yet true. If your agent does not offer to do this for you, run.) Fees could add up to 7-10% of your sales price depending on your tax rate and if you escrow your property taxes, HOA resale certificate and transfer fees, title insurance fee, recording fee, survey, repairs, and compensation. 

Compensation is a negotiable term we will discuss when we meet and also is a marketing strategy we use to attract buyer agents to show your home. We will discuss this strategy with you and all options to consider. Keep in mind, most buyers and investors financing in the market today already are saving for a down payment (3-25% of the home value), up to 3% in loan origination costs and inspection fees and may not be able to pay a buyer's agent or include the cost in the loan due to bank or loan restrictions. Also, be sure to ask us about our Flexible Fee System where you could pay as little as 1.5% in broker compensation fees and other compensation options and discount incentives when you are selling and buying another home as our client within the same year. 

8. Will you discount your commission? 

We get it, everybody loves to get a deal or a discount. We do not discount our professional fee unless you are buying or selling another home with us within the same year of your first transaction or if we are listing a property for you (that we represented you when you bought the home) and you are losing money. Thankfully, our clients' homes are usually their best performing asset and this is rarely the case.

We do offer flexible fee options we will discuss when we meet that will save you money depending on the amount of work we have done and marketing dollars spent, how the buyer is found and if the buyer has an agent representing them or not. Click here to see more details about our Flexible Fee Structure.

Lastly, we only want to get paid what you think we earned and deserve when the property closes. If we get to the closing table and you want to discuss lowering the fee, we will meet with you and review all of the actions we took while we were working together and do our best to work out a fee that works for you once you review.

If you meet with another agent that offers you a discount or use a discount brokerage, we find you usually get discount or limited service. It is true, you get what you pay for and the agent that discounts at the first meeting is showing you their negotiating skills.

Broker compensation or the sharing of compensation between brokers is not set by law nor fixed, controlled, recommended, or suggested by the National Association of REALTORS®, MLS, or any listing service. Broker compensation is fully negotiable. Brokers independently determine their fees. 

9. Didn't I hear in the news that sellers do not have to pay buyer agent compensation anymore? 

You may have heard buzz in the media recently about changes to real estate broker compensation, sparking confusion among homeowners—and even some agents. (If the agent you are interviewing can't confidently explain these changes, that's a red flag!). Let's clear this up. 

Our team sent out this newsletter to our past clients breaking down these changes that's worth reading. Here's the truth: broker compensation has always been negotiable. Our team has worked with and negotiated deals for many sellers that have not paid buyer agent compensation in a transaction in our 20 years in this career.

The reason for the lawsuit was due to a practice called tying, in that it was common practice for real estate brokers get hired to sell a property for a fee (or percentage of the sales price) and then offer to pay part of that fee in the MLS to compensate a buyer agent once the transaction closes. The lawsuit raised concerns that listing brokers were determining these amounts without sellers fully understanding or explicit agreement.

What hasn't changed is that the market will often influence how costs are distributed in a transaction (depending on if it is a seller, buyer or balanced/neutral market). For example, when interest rates and inflation are high, buyers typically have tighter budgets, which can shift some costs to sellers to make deals work. 

The bottom line? Having a seasoned, knowledgeable agent in your corner is more important than ever to navigate these changes, craft the right strategy and help you net the most money from your sale. When we meet, we will help you decide if offering or negotiating buyer agent commission is in your best interest. 

10. How do you handle an intermediary status?  

This means the buyer is unrepresented by an agent or the buyer is represented by another agent in my office, it is a buyer that has hired me to represent them and they want to buy your home. Again, you are the boss and we will handle the scenario based on your decision. I will present to you all of the different options (and pros and cons) and we will review and put in writing what the rules are with each scenario when you make this decision. And most importantly, my goals is that you feel comfortable and protected throughout the selling process and that you understand every decision you are making. Also important to note, I am not allowed to represent both the seller and the buyer in a transaction. This is not allowed in Texas. 

11. How extensive is your knowledge of the market? 

This is an important question! And this is another question in which most agents do not know how to answer correctly. Every agent should know how to calculate absorption rate and tell you whether it is a buyer market, seller market or balanced/neutral market at a macro and/or micro level. Most agents get their market knowledge from the media. The newspaper may say it's a strong Sellers market, yet your neighborhood may be a buyers market at the moment. Ask your agent what kind of market it is and how they calculate, track it and interpret this information for you while your home is listed. Ask them how many months of inventory you currently have in your neighborhood?  A Sellers market is less than 5 months of inventory, a balanced market is 5-7 months of inventory and a Buyers market is more than 7 months of inventory (this is also important to review absorption rate per price point). Click here to see some of the key market data we will use to gauge the demand for your home and help you price your home to get it sold. 

12. What if I am not happy with your service and I want to cancel the listing? 

All of our listing contracts are "no pressure" agreements. This means you can cancel at anytime and you will not be charged a fee (double check other agents are not charging you a fee please, I had one past client get charged $1500 after he terminated the listing. I'm not a fan of these fees.) I'm also not a fan of sellers feeling "stuck" with their listing agent till the last day of the listing contract. If I am not getting the job done and you are not satisfied with my service, please ask to cancel. I always offer this, yet have had very few clients use it unless they decide not to sell their home. If circumstances change and you decide not to sell your home, we will share with you the expenses we incurred and work out a refund amount with you. 

13. Common Misconceptions to Address: 

Here are some of the common misconceptions we often hear from our clients about getting your home sold that we like to address beforehand (and happy to discuss further when we meet). 

"I am not in a hurry to sell" 

This can be counter intuitive. It makes logical sense that you would want to price it higher when you are not in a hurry to sell, yet the market does not respond well with more days on market. In fact, a buyer will make an offer based on the condition of the home and the number of days on market. Every day you are on the market will could you money.

We will do our best to bring examples of other properties that priced higher when they entered the market and ended up taking less than other homes that priced right from the start. 

"I want to price it higher in case we get a lower offer"

This is a common fear with clients. In our twenty years of experience, we have received many offers at list price. We will review the market conditions and advise you on the right price to enter the market.

If you want to market the home at a higher price than we recommend, then we may be able to test that higher price before you list in the MLS. We will do our best to get your market feedback on the price by listing the home in our Top Agent Network site and networking the home in our office of  nearly 500 agents. This way, you will have the information you need before you enter the MLS and the official Days on Market counting starts.

"Another agent says they can sell it for more"

Unfortunately, there are agents that will tell you they can sell it for more and they are either inexperienced or trying to get you to sign a listing agreement by over-promising (and these are the agents that will under-deliver). 

Here is a strategy to use if get hold the over-promising agent to their word. Tell the agent that you will sign the listing agreement only at that price and ask to add that the listing agreement will terminate if the agent can not sell it at that price or asks you to lower the price. You will, most likely, see this agent backtrack on the price suggestion. Then you can list with our team that was honest with you from the beginning.

"I want to sell the home as-is and do not want to do any repairs"

This may be possible, depending on the market. If the demand is high and it is a sellers market. If there are too many repairs or cosmetic issues, then a buyer is going to make an investor level offer. 

Buyers will pay more for a move-in ready home (owner occupant buyers vs. investor buyers). Buyers perceive the cost of repairs and updates 3-5X more than the actual cost. Buyers decide in 30 seconds of walking into a home whether or not they are going to make an offer on a home. First impressions are important. 

If the buyer is financing to purchase your property, depending on the type of loan product, the lender may require repairs to be done before the loan is approved. We find it's best to fix anything that needs repair, yet we understand every situation is different and we are experts at negotiating for you and setting expectations for this part of the transaction. Also, our preferred vendors often cost 10-30% less than the market average. We are always looking for ways to save you money. 

"If we get multiple offers then my price was too low"

The market and the demand for your property will determine whether or not you get multiple offers. When inventory is low and it's a strong seller's market (less than 3 months absorption rate), you may get multiple offers depending on the market. This does not necessarily mean that your home was priced too low, only that there are more buyers than there are houses available.

Sometimes, you may get multiple offers if the demand is high enough, yet the offers may still be lower than list price depending on the market. This is rare, yet a good example of how buyers dictate price in every market. We have had a home listed at $500,000 and received 10 offers in the $400K-$475K range. 

We recommend our pricing based on multiple strategies, one of the most important ones being the appraisal value of the home (which  is based on comparable homes that have sold in the last 30-180 days.)  If you get multiple offers, you have the negotiating power to get the most money for your home and strength in negotiating the other terms of the contract. 

"I think my home is worth what the county tax assessment says, right?"

Common misconception. We want the county assessment to stay as low as possible (and please join us for our annual seminar on how to do this every year!). Your home is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it. We will know the worth of your home once we get an offer. During the listing appointment, we are doing our best to predict how the market will respond to your home. If only we were psychic or control the market!

"I put thousands of dollars in upgrades that I think makes my home worth more than others in the area."

Unfortunately, there is such a thing as over-improving a home depending on the market. This is one of the reasons we ask our clients to reach out with their remodel plans, so we can help you make decisions that will increase the equity in your home and how the market responds when you decide to sell (ask us for a copy of the Annual Remodel ROI Report if you are curious as to the average ROI for our area for different upgrades) The ROI (Return on Investment) for upgrades in  your home is not always dollar for dollar. The market will dictate the ROI for upgrades and an appraiser will also assign value to it when comparing to other homes if the buyer is financing the purchase. 

14. What will you do if my home is not selling as predicted?

As we explained above, price and condition are the main components of the marketing strategy. If we market the home and are able to attract buyers that tour the property and do not make an offer, then the buyers have rejected your property "at that price."  We get it, nobody likes rejection (it's best not to take it personally, although we realize this can be an emotional process for some). Nobody can predict the market with 100% accuracy. Again, we are good at this job, yet not psychic.

Lower the Price or Improve the Condition

The top two choices to consider are to adjust the price or improve the condition. We find that most clients do not want to spend the money to improve the condition while on the market. Most likely, we will need to take it off the market to make the improvements and the risk of a market shift could end up making you less. That leaves price as the easier of the two choices to control and implement to get your home sold. We will continually analyze the market and the market response to help you make a price adjustment that will draw an offer from the market. If the demand is high for your home, a small adjustment to the price will refresh all of the marketing and pull your property to the top of the lists on all of the websites. If the demand and showings are low, then a larger adjustment many be necessary.

Other options to consider when your property has not sold:

Reverse Offer 

Before we lower the price to the market publicly, one strategy we could implement is to market the new price to all of the previous showings and the agents that we have listed on our Reverse Marketing lists that might have potential buyers for your property. This could create urgency with the buyers to offer on your home before we adjust the price.

Seller Paid Incentives  

Depending on the market, we could use the amount of money that we plan to lower to market to buyers as a seller-paid incentive that the buyer could use towards closings costs, buy down the interest rate or do a 2-1 buy down that will lower their monthly payment for 2 years. We can have our loan officer get us a flyer that explains these finance terms, lower the price and give the buyer the option to purchase at the new price or the previous price with incentives.

Increase the Compensation Being Offered to Buyer Agents 

Money talks...and although buyer agents are not ethically allowed to steer a buyer towards a property because the compensation is higher, this may be a strategy that will get their attention and get your more showings. The builders in this area use this strategy and will often offer 3-6% compensation when a home is sold with a buyer agent involved.

Lower the Price to Create an Auction Effect 

This is a strategy we can discuss. Depending on the demand for your property, area, and demand in the price point, lowering the price below market may result in multiple offers and result in a higher sales price and a stronger position to negotiate terms in your favor.

Withdraw the Home from the Market and Wait till the Market Improves  

The MLS will reset the days on market after the home is off the market for 90 days. If the home did not sell during the peak selling months of the season, then removing the home from the MLS for this time period and listing again during the next peak selling season may be the answer. 

Improve the Condition of the Home that is Receiving Negative Feedback  

Or at least get estimates to use for marketing to help buyers determine the cost of the improvement. We work with some of the best contractors in town that do great work and are priced well or competitively. Buyers always think that the cost of repairs and remodeling is three-times the actual cost. We can also have our marketing photos digitally staged to show a different paint color or remodel to give the buyer a better vision for the improvement plan.

List the Home for Rent (and For Sale)  

You can do both at the same time with us! We also do property management and could help you find a great tenant until the market improves. We will also help you analyze the investment potential for your property, including appreciation trends, short-term and medium-term rental options. Depending on the market, you could keep the home as an investment and sell it when a child goes to college. If buying another property, you may be able to use the equity to purchase another home. In fact, we propose this to all of your clients to consider before they decide to list the home. We have multiple clients that we help with this strategy. We are into helping you and your family build generational wealth and real estate is often the best performing asset in our clients' portfolios.

When the Market Speaks, Listen 

I wish that we got to choose how much your home is worth. That's not how the real estate market works. We help you with the opportunity to make the most with our strategies and marketing, yet the only way to know the value of your home is when a buyer makes an offer. Buyers dictate price in every market. If we are able to draw an offer with our marketing (and sometimes we do get multiple offers depending on the demand), it's best to listen when the market speaks. If you decide to pass on the first offer, every additional day you are on the market is going to cost you more money with holding costs for the home (and most likely a lower second offer due to the additional days on market.)

Get a Home Blessing and Energetic Clearing Whether you are religious, spiritual or not, I think everyone can agree and believe in energy and the feeling of energy in a space. Our market has many buyers that also practice Vatsu and Feng Shui. This is not a strategy that we are going to push you to do, yet we did want you to know that it's an option if you want to pursue it. We want you to know ALL your options available to you to help you make the best decision for you and your family to help get your home sold. 

If you read this entire post, you are now WELL informed now to find and hire the the best listing agent in Austin and the surrounding areas.  We get that everyone knows at least 5 real estate agents (and you are probably related to one of them:), and what I want you to leave with from this post, is that the agent you choose matters and the wrong decision could cost you from selling your home for top dollar.

Ready to take the next step? Let us show you how our strategies can maximize your profit and minimize your stress. Schedule a consultation today!

Thank you for reading and reviewing! Please comment or message me to discuss further. 

Laura Ivy Blessing, CEO of the Blessed Life Group, a top real estate team in Austin, TX, blogs about the ATX known and lesser known happenings with a splash of real estate savvy for today's buyers, sellers and investors. Please call her today to consult and advise you through your next real estate transaction. 512-789-5087