Evaluating Your Real Estate Agent

Knowing which questions to ask a real estate agent during an interview is one thing. But figuring out how to evaluate the answers you receive is an entirely different matter. For example, say an agent tells you that her 2006 statistics show a 99.7% sales-to-list price ratio. What does that mean and why do you care?

If you're a seller, you care deeply because it says the agent prices her properties right and she's aggressive at demanding her sellers get full price without concessions. Besides, last year was a slow market in many parts of the country, and many homes weren't selling at all; so 99.7% is a fabulous ratio for last year as a listing agent.

However, if you are a buyer, it means the agent probably can't negotiate worth a hill of beans, and you'd be better off hiring somebody else. Because in a buyer's market, most buyers are winning offers at least 3% below list price, not 3 tenths of one percent. So make sure the agent is separating the ratios for her listings and sales, and ask for both figures.

But that's just one example. Here are nine other ways you can use when evaluating agent answers.

Ready to Read More Articles About Agents? Click below:

• How to Fire Your Agent
  
• Legally, What Your Agent Can Do
  
• Differences Between Agents and REALTORS

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