How Do I Decide on a Listing Broker?

You pay a broker a good chunk of money to sell your property.  While we can’t make guarantees, a good broker can improve the odds of a successful sale at a good price and with the least hassle.  Here are some questions you’ll want to ask yourself and them: 

1. PRICING AND COLLATERAL – Does your broker make a compelling case for a listing price?  Does he establish some financial metrics and then verify them with comparable sales?  If you look at his marketing package, would you buy your property at this price?

3. RESUME – Ask for one outlining closed sales.  Do they outline previous sales and speak to the property type, challenges in selling and how they overcame them to close?  Every property is unique – It has its appeal and also has issues – If nothing else, why is it worth such a high price?  How will he address your property issues?

5. MARKETING / DUAL AGENCY – You will get the best price with the maximum exposure.  Does your broker use his own “platform” with controlled access or will the property be posted on public listing services like LoopNet, RMLS, and CreXi?  If you go to their WEBsite can you easily identify your property by units, pictures, and address with the price?  It’s the difference between having your broker call his short list vs. running an advertisement for the world to see.  The broker should be able to give you a link that anyone interested can access easily.  In some instances, dual agency happens (e.g. a broker brings you an unsolicited offer) and in other instances, a broker may fight to keep both sides of a commission by not actively listing the property.  You can always specify two commission rates – One for a co-op with another broker and a lower one if the listing broker handles both sides of the transaction

7. ORGANIZATION – Once your property is in contract, he’ll need to be organized and keep you informed.  One of the biggest items is keeping everyone on schedule.  Once things start slipping, it creates a more casual attitude – “Time kills deals”.  Have your broker show you a sample timeline – Do you understand your obligations?  How is earnest money handled and what written approvals do you need from the buyer?  Are documents labeled and organized in some sort of taxonomy?  We use cloud storage for records and once together, we send a buyer a link and the document delivery is done.  Once records are in a shared location, there should be no need to re-ask for paperwork.

9. TITLE – As the seller, you usually pay for standard title insurance.  You should have a say in who the title person is.  Ask your broker for his history with an escrow agent and if they have worked with apartment deals prior.  They handle all the monies involved and the closing paperwork.  The main thing is that they promptly notify all parties of critical events – Like a deposit of earnest money received.

Do not be afraid to ask questions.  There are plenty of brokers that want to list your property – Make sure you pick the most effective one.