The AgentHarvest Blog

The AgentHarvest Top 3 – A Ranking Of Top-Selling Real Estate Agents

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:07:15 +0000

PRESS RELEASE: August 22, 2011 – Dallas, Texas

THE AGENTHARVEST TOP 3 WILL REVEAL TOP PERFORMING AGENTS IN 45 AREAS IN DFW.

On August 22, 2011, AgentHarvest announced that it will create and maintain The AgentHarvest Top 3, a ranking of top-selling real estate agents and share that list with its clients for free. The first metro area will be the Dallas/Fort Worth Area. Other areas in Texas and the rest of the United States will follow.

We have already started rolling out areas that we have coverage in and will add additional areas in DFW when we find the highest ranking agents in each area.

About AgentHarvest

AgentHarvest is a free real estate agent finder service that helps buyers and sellers find top producing real estate agents by continuously tracking the activity of top producing real estate agents in DFW to find the best available real estate agents for our clients. Due to consumer demand, AgentHarvest decided to make this list available to the public as The AgentHarvest Top 3.

For more information about “The AgentHarvest Top 3″

For more information about AgentHarvest. please see our website at http://www.agentharvest.com.

For more information, please contact:

Bill Petrey
214-693-6683
bpetrey@agentharvest.com

Additional Articles

How Agents Screw Up Short Sales

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:15:59 +0000

Short sales are far more complicated than conventional home sales. One of the reasons for the additional complications is the intimate involvement with the bank. The bank is almost as involved in the transaction as the seller. They have to approve the price and they have final approval of the sale. This added involvement complicates the home selling process by adding additional approvals, additional delays and could result in the rejection of many offers the seller wants to take.

To handle the added complications of a short sale, you need a Realtor that is experienced in performing short sales and knows how to effectively negotiate with the bank. Notice I said “experienced in.” I didn’t say “took a class in” or “has a Short Sale Designation or certification.” Don’t make the mistake of letting an inexperienced agent learn what to do and what not to do with your property. If the agent fails, you will probably be headed towards foreclosure.

The biggest short sale mistake I see real estate agents doing all the time is advertising a low price for the short sale property that wasn’t approved by the bank. This wastes everyone’s time. They lure buyers to the property in hopes of getting the home for the listed price or less, only to find out later on that the advertised price was not approved by the bank and the bank wants thousands or tens of thousands more. I consider this either misleading, a form of bait-and-switch fraud, or just sheer stupidity and ignorance. In some cases, when it’s horribly off, I consider it all three.

Another problem agents make is revealing too much information to the buyer. The agent negotiating on behalf of the seller is in possession of a lot of personal financial information and a lot of private information regarding the loan, the short sale and foreclosure. A lot of this information should not be revealed to the buyer.

And finally, another problem I see is negotiating with the bank. Real estate agents know how to negotiate with buyers and sellers, or at least they should know. Negotiating with banks is a whole other matter. When you negotiate with the bank, you must prove that the homeowner can’t afford the loan payments and you must also prove the property’s value. These negotiations are pretty hard because you’re dealing with business facts and figures, and there’s little middle ground to form a compromise. After all, you can’t ask them to only take half of the house.

Bill Gassett, a Short Sale Realtor in Massachusetts shared his experience with short sales in this article. http://massrealestatenews.com/short-sale-realtor-mistakes/

Minimum Level Of Service Clients Should Demand From An Agent – The Client’s Bill Of Rights

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:02:09 +0000

Homeowners should demand a minimum level of service from their agent before they’re hired. Here are some of the performance level minimums that clients should force their agents to provide. Most homeowners are not aware of what duties a real estate agent performs so it’s really easy for lazy real estate agents to get away with sub-standard performance. That’s why it’s important to let the agent know what you expect before you hire them and let them know that you will terminate the contract if the agent doesn’t meet your minimum levels of service standards. Here are a few of the services you should demand from your agent.

Minimum Level of Agent Services

Reports showing sales activity and pricing in your area.
Reports showing all interest shown in your home.
Contact all agents that showed the home to their clients to encourage a sale.
A list of all media exposure where your home is featured.
The maximum amount of pictures in MLS and a good description.
Constant attention to your house’s price competitiveness.
AND MANY MORE – We will give you a free copy of the complete list of the AgentHarvest Client Bill of Rights when you use our free real estate agent finding service.

Put It In Writing

Make your agent sign a promissory agreement stating that they’ll provide you with these services and any others you feel important.

Enforcing Performance Levels

The minute your agent strays off course, make them aware of your disappointment. If it keeps happening, don’t hesitate to terminate their listing agreement. If your agent isn’t performing to your standards, our free service will help you find one that will.

Motivating Agents To Sell New-Construction Properties Faster

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:14:00 +0000

To be successful in selling new-construction houses, you not only need the right real estate agent with a successful history of selling new-construction properties, but you need to keep that real estate agent motivated too. Here’s how you can do it.

In today’s new construction residential real estate market, just hiring the same Realtor you’ve always used to sell an entire subdivision of new construction properties is no longer an effective way to sell your speculative properties. To sell new-construction properties in this market you have to do three things, hire real estate agents that are currently selling new-construction properties, use more than one agent, and make your agents compete for additional listings.

Picking the Right Real Estate Agent

Don’t just find a real estate agent that promotes their experience selling new-construction properties, but find a real estate agent that can prove it too. Look for real estate agents that recently sold new-construction properties near yours. If you need help finding top producing new-construction agents that actually sell houses, AgentHarvest’s free services can connect you with these highly-successful Realtors experienced in several types of new construction properties.

Use Multiple Real Estate Agents

Why hire one agent or agency to list all 30-lots of a subdivision when you could easily offer it to two or three agents from different agencies. Instead of having one agent selling your subdivision, you now have multiple agents bringing in buyers, promoting your properties, and best of all, you create competition among those agents.

Make Your Real Estate Agents Compete

Don’t assign all of your listings at once, hold a majority back as an incentive. When an agent sells one of your houses, give that agent a few more. By rewarding a sale with more listings, you not only motivate the agent to do more than just put your properties on MLS and wait. Competing agents know if they don’t get those listings, the agent they’re competing with might. AgentHarvest’s Builder Services Program will help you arrange your properties into motivational groupings that not only rewards performance but encourages it too.

Using AgentHarvest to Sell Your New-Construction Properties

AgentHarvest’s Builder Services Program is the builder’s version of the free real estate agent finder services that residents have been taking advantage of for years. Our Builder Services Program is free helping you find top producing real estate agents without spending more money.

If you’re wanting to meet real estate agents that have proven that they can sell new-construction houses, in various stages, like yours, near yours then you’ll want to take advantage of our free agent finder service Give us the opportunity to show you how our services can help you find and motivate the right real estate agents to sell your properties faster, while saving money in the process.

Let’s get started right now!

Our services are free and there’s no obligation to use any agent we provide so what do you have to lose?

(Your information will only be shared with the three agents we select. We respect and safeguard your privacy.)

Serving the entire Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas metroplex.

How Being An Impressive Agent Can Turn Off Potential Clients

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 06:19:10 +0000

You’re a successful real estate agent with a stellar reputation, and a highly revered name. You’re on a well-respected team and work for one of the largest real estate offices in your city. You’ve also won several awards proving your greatness. You have all the popular accreditations, enough acronyms to fill a whole line of text on your business card. When you walk the halls of your real estate agency, all of the agents stop what they’re doing to take notice of your entrance. While your credentials seem undeniably impressive, they may only serve to impress you and your colleagues. But that’s hardly the point of having them is it?

I’ve heard comments from homeowners after interviewing agents such as, “She told me about some award she won and just paused, waiting for my response. Was I supposed to be impressed?” Not every homeowner you try to win as a client knows all the impressive things you’ve done. I bet few actually do. Sure you’ve put in a lot of marketing and name building dollars to try to brand yourself, your team and your agency, but don’t expect that message to be absorbed by everyone. Not every opportunity you receive is earned by your reputation, sometimes it’s based off the recommendation of others, or just random luck. As a successful real estate agent, if you assume that every homeowner who contacts you about selling their house knows about your reputation or achievements then you’re in for a shocking surprise, and a lost opportunity. Plus, you may be the subject of laughter during their next agent interview.

You should go into every listing appointment assuming homeowners know nothing about your reputation or past successes. Impress them with your track record, your team’s track record, and mention all the awards you’ve won with your team, but be sure to take the time to explain what those awards are, how they were won, and why winning those awards makes you a better agent.

Ever run into an agent like this? Tell me about it.

Why Homeowners Choose The Other Real Estate Agent

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 23:33:12 +0000

You know beyond a doubt that you are a successful real estate agent. You have been asked by AgentHarvest to give a listing presentation to a homeowner in a neighborhood that you’ve sold lots of houses in. You have done your homework, you know the neighborhood, and you have a great reputation in the real estate industry. Basically this listing is in the bag. However, you discover that you couldn’t be more wrong. The homeowner chose another real estate agent. Where did you go wrong? Why did they choose the another agent?

I’m in a unique position to see successful real estate agents lose listings all the time, which is why I am writing this article. Our company, AgentHarvest, introduces homeowners to top producing agents that have a track record of selling houses in the client’s neighborhood. After our clients meet with the agents we select, we get their impressions of each agent they interviewed. The most popular reason one agent is chosen over another will surprise you. In most cases, it’s not the agent’s famous name, real estate team, big-name brokerage firm, hi-tech tools, color charts and graphs, pages of stats or even the unrealistic promise of an unobtainable listing price that wins them over. In our experience, the most popular reason one successful real estate agent is chosen over another equally qualified agent all boils down to one thing … ENTHUSIASM.

Some of the feedback I’ve received from various clients about their favorite agents includes phrases like, “They were all good, but this one seemed like he’d work harder to sell our house” or, “We thought he would be the most aggressive” and, “We feel he’d do a better job.” Notice I didn’t say, “Wow he had impressive slides,” or, “Great color handouts,” or even, “It’s an honor to be represented by The Petrey Team, I am in deed fortunate to have his sign in my yard.” No, it’s not the tools, the polished presentation or the smooth way you schmooze the clients. Really, none of that matters. Homeowners only care about two things. Are you successful at selling houses? And, how enthusiastic are you about selling mine?

Be enthusiastic you say? What does that mean? I don’t mean walking in with a fake smile while proclaiming, “wow, what a beautiful home you have.” Believe it or not, homeowners see through that fake sincerity crap. Instead, be enthusiastic about selling homes and serving your clients. Enthusiastically market them, show them, and put them in the best possible light. Let your enthusiasm show in the smallest of details, in the pictures you take, your knowledge of their neighborhood and home, buyer followup and in your communications with your client.

During your next listing presentation, don’t rely on your pretty listing presentation or your big name, team name or agency’s name. Show them you can sell houses then show off your enthusiasm about selling theirs.

Are you an enthusiastic agent? If so, share examples of your enthusiasm with us in the comments below. AgentHarvest is always looking for ENTHUSIASTIC agents to refer to our clients.

Top 10 Signs That You Need A New Real Estate Agent

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:11:16 +0000

Here are the signs that you may need to consider hiring a new real estate agent to sell your house.

10. Your real estate agent’s sign has become sun faded in your front yard

9. Your real estate agent is more devoted to attracting Twitter Followers than buyers

8. Your real estate agent’s only advice is to be patient

7. All of the other houses in your neighborhood have sold

6. Your MLS pictures were taken with snow on the ground and now it’s the middle of summer

5. Your real estate agent’s open houses only attract people looking for free food

4. Every week, your agent asks for a price drop

3. Your listing flyer information box is always empty

2. Your agent uses your open houses to attract clients instead of buyers

1. The only time you hear from your real estate agent is when it’s time to renew your listing agreement

Okay, now what? If you find any of these signs familiar, maybe you should fire your real estate agent. If you didn’t like the first real estate agent you hired to sell your house then you need to change the way you evaluate potential real estate agents. To learn the secrets to finding top producing real estate agents that sell houses in your neighborhood check out the following categories in this blog: Finding an Agent, Realtor Interview Materials, and What Agents Don’t Want You To Know. We can help you find the agents that sell houses in your neighborhood with our free services.

4 Things You Must Never Reveal To A Real Estate Agent Until You Hire Them

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 23:54:16 +0000

While interviewing multiple real estate agents to find an agent to sell your home, you should never tell those agents anything you wouldn’t want the buyer to know. Why? Because you’ll only be hiring one agent and that’s the only agent that must protect your secrets. The other agents may have buyers waiting to make you an offer and since they represent the buyer’s interests, it’s their job to tell that buyer everything you told that agent if they’re interested in buying your house. Imagine trying to negotiate with a buyer that already knows your bottom line and desperation to sell before he ever sets foot in your house.

Things not to reveal during a real estate agent interview:

The lowest price you would take
Your financial situation if it’s really bad
How desperate you are to sell
And anything else you wouldn’t want the buyer to know

These are things that an agent doesn’t need to know until you hire them. If you are having financial problems, you may want to ask about short sales, but I wouldn’t reveal anything about my particular situation. Once you sign a listing agreement with an agent, that’s when it’s time to tell that agent everything in intimate detail. That’s the time to confess, but not before documents are signed.

Want To Motivate Your Real Estate Agent? Fire Him!

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:52:12 +0000

A few days ago, I got a call from a potential client interested in firing his real estate agent and using our services to hire a better agent. This homeowner was very unhappy with his agent and thought he didn’t do enough to attract buyers to his house. After having the house on the market for about 116 days, the homeowner saw little activity. However, once the homeowner attempted to fire his real estate agent, the agent was able to produce a contract in less than three days. While I don’t like losing potential clients, I am extremely happy that this homeowner was able to sell his house and if this contract doesn’t close, I look forward to helping this client find another agent. But I have to wonder… what happened?

The homeowner’s biggest complaint regarding this agent was that he wasn’t doing anything to attract buyers to the house. The house was on the market for about 116 days and the only serious interest came from a buyer who toured the home when it was first on the market. Of course, homeowners tend to love the agents that sell their houses and dislike the ones that can’t so comments like these are quite common and not always applicable. However, in this case, one has to wonder. Why was this buyer suddenly motivated to submit an offer on this house? My guess is that the agent finally did his job and started aggressively following up on anyone who showed any interest in the property because he was trying to avoid losing the listing and getting fired by his client.

I wonder what would have happened had the homeowner fired his agent 30 days into the listing? My guess is that the home would have sold 86 days sooner. It’s the listing agent’s job to follow-up on all buyers who tour the agent’s listings to address concerns, answer questions and to determine buyer interest and motivation. This agent didn’t do that for this listing until he was forced to, but when he did it, he got a contract on the house. Without the threat of being fired, how much longer would this house have stayed on the market before selling, or worse, would it have become an expired listing?

Not happy with your agent? Don’t let your listing linger on the market for months until it eventually expires. Do like this homeowner did and motivate your agent to do what he or she was hired to do. If you think you’re agent isn’t doing his job, fire him then watch the offers to pour in. If you don’t get an offer then give us a call and we’ll find an agent that will do everything possible to attract buyers to your listing.

12 Tips For Finding Neighborhoods That Don’t Lose Value

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 21:44:43 +0000

It’s not too hard to find neighborhoods where home prices don’t fall. Highly desirable neighborhoods that maintain or increase in value have a few characteristics in common.

A well-established neighborhood close to a city
Homes priced slightly above the median home price
Has few, if any foreclosures
Has long-term neighbors that have lived in the home for over 15 years
Neighborhood is convenient to major highways, and/or public transportation for easy commuting
Amenities such as parks, playgrounds, a gated community with security, etc.
Located in good school districts
Have low crime rate statistics
Have well maintained houses, yards, streets, curbs, and other signs of neighborhood pride.

I also recommend a few other signs of a good neighborhood that will probably hold its value.

Very few houses for sale, ever
Houses sell quickly and at or near original list price
Not located near apartments

Original Article: >>> http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/neighborhoods-where-home-prices-don-t-fall-1.aspx

Additional Articles

Never Hire The First Real Estate Agent You Meet

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:37:55 +0000

I’m amazed at how many people will hire the first real estate agent that they interview. I mean, you never buy the first car you test drive, order the first item you see on the menu, hire the first job seeker you interview, and women don’t sleep with the first person that tells them they’re pretty. However if I’m wrong about the latter, then may I be the first to tell my female readership how pretty you look reading this article.

It’s been a well proven fact that most people will hire the first real estate agent they interview. Agents know this and count on it. I’ve seen it happen countless times during my career at AgentHarvest, even though we stress the importance of interviewing multiple agents. While it provides a great advantage to the “early bird” agent, it rarely benefits the homeowner. You must talk to at least two or three agents and compare each agent’s offerings, advantages and disadvantages. Then you must weigh the factors and determine which agent best fulfills your needs. If you fall in love with a real estate agent right away, it’s okay to wait a few days before hiring them. If you still love that real estate agent after meeting other agents then you’ll know that’s the right agent for you.

There are several advantages to interviewing multiple real estate agents

You will:

Get multiple opinions regarding home improvements
Receive several estimates of what your house could sell for
Be able to spot agents that will promise anything just to get a listing
Have multiple marketing packets to compare
Receive multiple opinions of your area’s current market volume
Be able to compare agent personalities
Feel more confident that you hired the right agent

If you hire the first agent you meet then all I can say is good luck. Do yourself a favor and interview at least two or three agents before hiring an agent to list your house. A good agent will not mind waiting to find out if they got the listing. Sure it’s a lot of work interviewing agents, but it’s also a lot of work keeping your house show-ready on the market for months or even years longer than necessary because you chose the wrong agent.

How to find the right agents to interview

When shopping for a real estate agent, you’ll want to find agents that are currently selling houses, similar to yours, in your neighborhood. AgentHarvest has a free real estate agent finder service that can find the agents currently selling houses in your area. It’s a free service with no obligations or contracts to sign and best of all, besides finding great agents, we even pay you a portion of their commissions when you use an agent we connect you with to sell your home. Find out why Agent Harvesting is the best way to find Realtors.

About Virtual Tours And Why I Hate Them

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:48:39 +0000

Virtual Tours have become the new “got to have” tool in the agent’s arsenal and every client wants their house featured in a virtual tour. I hate the virtual tour packages that are popular today. I always have and I always will. There are two types of virtual tours that I see most often. The first is a set of still photographs created in a slideshow that looks like a crappy PowerPoint slideshow complete with annoying background music that grates on your nerves and announces to all your co-workers that you are loafing on the job if you have your PC’s volume set too high. The second virtual tour, I actually don’t mind so much, and that is a series of photos, shot through a fisheye lens and stitched together to look like a 3D representation of your house and you can look around it similar to Google Maps Street View.

The Crappy PowerPoint Looking Virtual Tour

These virtual tours were created so agents can brag about offering a virtual tour without actually having to pay for a decent one. They are nothing more than still photographs assembled in a slideshow, complete with amateur transitions and grating background music. Next to the slideshow are links about the property’s features. Agents should be ashamed selling these things as virtual tours. They look cheap, take a while to load, and may require plug-ins to work. Adding plug-ins limits your audience, especially unknown third-party Internet browser plug-ins. Once they’re running, they offer nothing that wasn’t already seen in the MLS listing. They just rearranged them a little and added some horrific soundtrack. In my opinion, a dedicated web page would be better than this. A web page could have all the photos, links, maps, etc. You could link to it in your MLS listing, like you would a Virtual Tour, give it a memorable address, and best of all, it’s searchable by Google. My biggest problem with these virtual tours is that they look cheap and don’t offer anything new to the listing.

The Fisheye 3D Virtual Tour

These virtual tours actually do give you a feeling of touring the house, or at least a few rooms. I actually like these, but there are some serious problems with them. I don’t like the virtual tours that spin you around. If you have a big monitor like I do, nausea and dizziness could set in if you watch it for too long. I would prefer they start the tour without the spinning. You can move your mouse around to explore it at your own pace. Besides panning left and right, you can look up and down too. With limited success, you can zoom in and out, but the picture becomes grainy fast, limiting it’s value. However, it does give you a spacial sense of being there. However, there are some drawbacks. Users with slow Internet connections will have to wait for images to load. Another disadvantage is that the spinning room doesn’t allow you to focus on features or highlight anything special about the house. As a matter of fact, all beneficial features of the house get lost. Also, to create a 360, 3D panorama, you have to use a fisheye lens that distorts the image so that the images can be stitched together creating a visual bubble effect. Distorted pictures distract the viewer from the features that would sell the house. When you create tours like this, even the unflattering features of the house are shown. Not every part of a room is pretty.

What’s Better Than A Virtual Tour? Video Tours!

Think about it. What would be better than filming the real estate agent giving a walk-through tour of the home. The agent could point out the features, benefits and walk through the best parts of the house while discussing its greatest assets. Important messages could be highlighted with text overlaid in the video to emphasize benefits and features that the agent is talking about. To me, this would complement the MLS listing, any on-line ads and all printed materials.

I don’t think virtual tours sell houses, they just sell agents. Agents like using them to land listings because clients think they’re valuable. However, I believe that video tours would do a better job of selling houses.

Additional Articles

House Not Selling? Maybe Your Agent Is Only Using It As A Trophy?

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:34:35 +0000

Not every real estate agent takes your listing with the intent on selling it. Some agents like to keep houses they’re listing as trophies. By keeping houses as trophies, an agent can use it as listing bait, to attract other listings, and as buyer bait, to attract buyers that they can steer to other homes they’re trying to sell. This article explains how trophies are used and how to avoid real estate agents that collect, but never sell trophies.

How Trophy Listings Are Used

Basically, all listings are trophies to a real estate agent. Agents display their trophies on “New Listing” postcard mailings that they send to prospective sellers in a new territory they’re trying to break into. They use your listing to attract buyer clients through open houses. Agents also like to use trophies in advertisements. Flip through a real estate magazine and you’ll see tiny postcard sized pictures of houses scattered around a giant picture of that agent. The picture of the house is so small that you can barely see the front door, but you can see every blemish and wrinkle on that agent’s giant picture. Using listings as trophies is commonplace, and none of these practices are bad if they benefit the seller in some form or another. However, when an agent only uses your listing to attract future listings and to attract buyers to other listings, you have a serious problem.

How To Avoid Real Estate Agents That Collect Trophy Listings

There are several signals that you can look for to see if an agent likes to collect trophies rather than sell them.

If an agent has more listings than he could possibly manage
The agent’s ads only promote the agent and not his/her listings
You see more ads promoting the agent than the agent’s listings in the local media
The agent doesn’t have any other listings in your neighborhood
The agent’s listings are scattered across an area too large to adequately cover
The agent’s track record is filled with lots of expired listings and cancelled listings but very few sold listings
The agent’s agency does not represent buyers in your area
While all the other agents thought your price was unrealistic, this agent agrees to it without question
A sign in your yard is the only advertisement you’ve seen regarding your listing
Your agent is avoiding your phone calls
At your listing’s open house, your agent spends more effort attracting new clients than she does selling your house

So, if you’re wondering why your house isn’t selling, or generating any interest, then your house may be a trophy in your agent’s listing portfolio. If that’s the case, it’s time to take that trophy off her or her mantle and find another agent. AgentHarvest’s free real estate agent finder service can help.

Want To Know Which Real Estate Agents Are Naughty?

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:34:50 +0000

Did you know that all disciplinary actions filed by the state of Texas, against a real estate agent, are available to you through the Internet? If you want to find out which Texas agents the Texas Real Estate Commission filed disciplinary actions against you can go to http://www.trec.state.tx.us/complaintsconsumer/DiscipActions.asp.

On that site, you can search by month, city or agent name to find what, if any violations have been filed that fall under your search criteria. I recommend that you search this list before hiring any agent, or your complaint could be the next one filed.

Top 10 Signs You Hired The Wrong Real Estate Agent

Bill Petrey, Realtor — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:46:17 +0000

You’re home has been listed for months and no one’s interested in it. Is it a problem with the house, the housing market, or your neighborhood? Possibly, but it could also be your real estate agent’s fault. The Forbes article, referenced below, focuses on five traits that could point the finger of blame squarely at your real estate agent. I’ve also added a few more.

Lack of Communication
Lack of Leadership
Unused Resources
Too Much Pressure
Lack of Follow-Up

While these five signs are good, I have a few more.

Weakness During Negotiations

When you first interviewed them, were they willing to reduce their commissions without a struggle? If they’ll give away their earnings, they’ll give away yours even quicker when the buyer negotiations start.

Lack of Organization and Timeliness

Are they constantly misplacing things or mismanaging their time? If they can’t organize their personal or professional lives, they’ll probably be disorganized regarding the details of your sale too. There’s a lot of paperwork that needs to be shuffled around between parties, and deadlines that must be met. Odds are a mismanaged person will not meet those important deadlines and that will cost you money.

Doesn’t Offer Advice

One of the most important reasons to hire an agent is to take advantage of their experience. If they don’t share it or worse, don’t have it, you’re missing out on advice that could result in a timely sale or a higher sales price.

Not Willing to Walk Away

During a client interview, some agents will agree to almost anything to get a listing. They’ll agree to things that they know will prevent the house from selling, just to get the listing. This is a common trait for a desperate agent and desperate agents do not sell houses.

Doesn’t Stay Current

The industry is changing everyday. You want an agent that keeps up with the market, the industry, technology, new laws and regulations. Not only do you risk not using a valuable real estate tool, but you also run the risk of violating new laws your agent is unfamiliar with.

The biggest sign could be that AgentHarvest didn’t recommend that real estate agent.

Original Article: >>> http://www.forbes.com/2010/09/20/real-estate-home-personal-finance-bad-agent.html?boxes=financechannellatest

The AgentHarvest Blog

The AgentHarvest Top 3 – A Ranking Of Top-Selling Real Estate Agents

Additional Articles

How Agents Screw Up Short Sales

Related Articles

Minimum Level Of Service Clients Should Demand From An Agent – The Client’s Bill Of Rights

Minimum Level of Agent Services

Put It In Writing

Enforcing Performance Levels

Related Articles

Motivating Agents To Sell New-Construction Properties Faster

Picking the Right Real Estate Agent

Use Multiple Real Estate Agents

Make Your Real Estate Agents Compete

Using AgentHarvest to Sell Your New-Construction Properties

Related Articles

How Being An Impressive Agent Can Turn Off Potential Clients

Related Articles

Why Homeowners Choose The Other Real Estate Agent

Related Articles

Top 10 Signs That You Need A New Real Estate Agent

Related Articles

4 Things You Must Never Reveal To A Real Estate Agent Until You Hire Them

Things not to reveal during a real estate agent interview:

Related Articles

Want To Motivate Your Real Estate Agent? Fire Him!

Related Articles

12 Tips For Finding Neighborhoods That Don’t Lose Value

Additional Articles

Never Hire The First Real Estate Agent You Meet

There are several advantages to interviewing multiple real estate agents

How to find the right agents to interview

Related Articles

About Virtual Tours And Why I Hate Them

The Crappy PowerPoint Looking Virtual Tour

The Fisheye 3D Virtual Tour

What’s Better Than A Virtual Tour? Video Tours!

Additional Articles

House Not Selling? Maybe Your Agent Is Only Using It As A Trophy?

How Trophy Listings Are Used

How To Avoid Real Estate Agents That Collect Trophy Listings

Related Articles

Want To Know Which Real Estate Agents Are Naughty?

Related Articles

Top 10 Signs You Hired The Wrong Real Estate Agent

Weakness During Negotiations

Lack of Organization and Timeliness

Doesn’t Offer Advice

Not Willing to Walk Away

Doesn’t Stay Current

The biggest sign could be that AgentHarvest didn’t recommend that real estate agent.

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