Perth has over 10,000 real estate agents, and there will probably be 10 - 20 agents actively working in your suburb. It’s definitely not necessary to interview all 10-20 agents before finding the right one. You’ll be able to get a top 3 quite easily if you do some research first. Some of this you’ll be able to find from the comfort of your living room, but attending some home opens or even dropping into their office might be beneficial.

Let’s Get Personal

Does the agent have a personal brand? Do you know who they are and how they operate based on what is out there in the marketplace?

Is their email address @hotmail, @gmail or @iinet? It’s 2016! If the agent does not have a branded email address, what other basic branding mistakes are they making?

Do they actually look like their photo or was it taken a decade ago, 15kgs lighter and pre-grey hairs? Authenticity matters.

What is the quality of the printed collateral - business cards, brochures, mailouts, letterbox drops, etc. Professionally designed, consistent branding and quality cardstock is all available for very little investment these days. If they don’t invest in themselves as a business, then how much effort will they put into the marketing of your home?

Have they used a printed brochure from Realestate.com.au, or slapped something together in Word? Or do they present the home with a professionally designed brochure, printed on quality stock?

Does their marketing efforts extend beyond “#1 Agent in [Suburb]” and “Free Market Appraisals”? If not, then chances are marketing isn’t their strong point.

Google Them!

Has the agent taken the time to make sure their profile is up to date on the major portals? i.e. realestate.com.au, reiwa.com.au and domain.com.au? There is not arguing that buyers and sellers will go to these portals before going to an agency website (if at all). In fact, realestate.com.au recently released figures that showed traffic of more than double their closest rival. All three of the major real estate portals in Perth are designed to make finding the top agent in the suburb quite easy for its consumer (Buyers & Sellers) so it’s vital that an agent has a profile with up to date content to accompany their listings.

A large portion of buyers here in Perth will fall in love with their new home online first, therefore if you want your property exposed to the most buyers, you’ll need to have a top online presence. Review how similar properties to your’s have been showcased online. Have they been upgraded to a feature property? Do they have floorplans, virtual tours and videos to accompany the professional photography?

A well designed, easy to navigate agency website is also important and we are also seeing the rise of individual agents having their own websites as they build their personal branding. These websites are not designed to take on any of the key real estate portals, but are used to education their tribe on the happenings within their marketplace.

Do they have a website just for the sake of having a website? Beware of filler content, out of date statistics, no original content like a blog. You should be able to get up to date information, find property details and contact an agent with ease.

Contactability

Getting hold of your agent at a moment’s notice can be critical. Do they have their mobile number on their website and business card or are they a “secret agent”?

How long does your agent take to return a voicemail or text - test it out!

Jump online and send an enquiry to one of their listings. Determine how long it takes to get back to you and the quality of the response. Remember, this is how they will be treating your potential buyers.

History speaks louder than words

Check out their current listings. Are they taking photos themselves or bringing in a professional? Do they do videos as well? Listings with videos have increased engagement by 397%. Think about your Facebook feed for example - have you noticed the increase in videos there too? A lot of agents will say they offer videos, but very little actually do it!

What’s the focus of their property marketing? Whether it’s a signboard or the online listing, are they selling the property or themselves?

It is easy to get overwhelmed with finding a real estate agent, but at the end of the day, real estate agents are in the business of marketing and sales, so they should know what they are doing!

It’s important to do your homework when it comes to finding the right real estate agent to sell your home. At Naked we have nothing to hide! Contact us today to discover the Naked difference.