Over the years, you have heard people say, “I am hiring the neighborhood expert to sell my home because he or she sells more homes in this neighborhood.” Let’s explore that for a second and find out if, in fact, that’s true. Are there any real neighborhood experts that sell more homes in a particular neighborhood than another realtor?
Often, the consumer gets this confused, so we asked them how they knew that this Realtor is the neighborhood expert. They respond, “We’ll, they sell all of the homes in the neighborhood!” This is the confusing part and where we need to explain to a consumer that it’s not necessarily true. You see, the neighborhood expert DOESN’T sell all the homes in the neighborhood; they LIST the most of the homes in the neighborhood. There’s a big difference. The neighborhood expert lists the home and in 9 out of 10 cases, another agent from another company brings the buyer. So the agent bringing the buyer is really the selling agent. Consumers should really look at which agents have brought the most buyers to that particular neighborhood. That’s the real neighborhood expert. Often when you dig into which Realtor is bringing the most buyers, you see that not one buyer agent dominates a neighborhood but rather it’s a smattering of many different agents.
So as you can see, the “neighborhood expert” lists the home and relies on another agent to bring the buyer. That’s ok as long as you understand that the neighborhood expert is not selling the most homes in the neighborhood. You may be saying to yourself, “Dan, isn’t it a good thing that the neighborhood Realtor knows the area better than most and lists many homes there?” Sure, that’s always a plus but it’s not what determines if a home sells and at what price.
There are three things that determine whether or not a home sells fast and for the highest price: 1) Did the seller price it right in the first 30 days? 2) Does the house have the WOW factor and shows great? 3) Did the seller hire a real estate team with exceptional marketing? You see, part one and part two are controlled by the seller. Part three, “the marketing,” is the only part of the equation that is controlled by the Realtor. Our job is to bring the most buyers to the house as quickly as possible and you do that with great marketing. As long as the seller did their part in pricing it right and it showed great, then the house will sell quickly for top dollar.
So what then should be the criteria be for hiring a Realtor? Easy. You should hire the Realtor or team with the best marketing. This is a numbers game and you need a real estate team that excels at marketing so you can get as many buyers to your home as quickly as possible. That may be the neighborhood expert, but my guess is it may not. Sure, there are other things to consider when hiring a Realtor like track record, reputation, communication, and a sense that you fit well working with that agent.
If you would like to speak with us and see what makes our real estate marketing better and different, please don’t hesitate to contact us at team@thehawaiiteam.com or 808-913-0899.
Dan Polimino is a Broker/Owner with The Hawaii Team, Keller Williams Realty Maui. Contact The Hawaii Team at 808-913-0899, team@thehawaiiteam.com.
