What Do All Those Letters Mean After a Realtors Name?

If you have decided to sell your home, a purchase a new one, you have probably performed searches online to find an agent to represent you.

Some of those agents have initials after their name, however most do not. Should you care if an agent has those initials, or multiple sets of initials after their name? The short answer is yes.

Those initials are only for agents who have completed  (and passed) advanced education in real estate through  the National Association of REALTORS, and are referred to in the industry as designations.

A few of the most prestigious designations to look for when hiring your next agent are:

ABR - Accredited Buyers Representative. Extensive training on negotiating and representing buyers. Documentation of a number of buyer controlled sales is mandatory for completion.

CRS - Certified Residential Specialist. A very structured course on how to best represent sellers. Documentation of a number of seller controlled sales is mandatory for completion.

GRI - Graduate, REALTORS Institute. Overall detailed review and training on how to be the best real estate agent.

E-PRO - Internet Certified. Training and hands on implementation on technology for real estate professionals.

SRES - Seniors Real Estate Specialist. Training on  and unique real estate needs of senior citizens.

Yes, I have attained all of these designations. (See my bio here)  I believe, as a real estate agent, that the more education and training I can get, the better for my clients, and the better for my knowledge of the business.

When you need a Realtor in  Easton, Fairfield, Norwalk, Trumbull or Westport, you will see very few, if any, agents with ALL of these same designations. My commitment to education is also a commitment to my clients, and I sincerely hope that you are one of them some day.

Buying or Selling a Home in Fairfield County? We'd be honored to represent you.

Feel free to email us here or visit our main  site at

www.CThomesAndRealEstate.com

If you have a question about buying or selling Real Estate in  Fairfield County, and are in need of representation, I invite you to contact me. I know the market like the back of my hand, know marketing inside and out, am a skilled negotiator- and I'd love to be on your side :) - Judy

How NOT to Find the Best Agent to Sell Your Home.

Most homeowners are pretty savvy when it comes to interviewing agents, but sometimes, even the smart home sellers  hire an agent that is ill-equipped to handle the sale of their home, whether it be by that agent's pricing strategies, marketing skills, or their ability to effectively negotiate price and/or terms.

First- Pricing.

Face it, some agents just do not know how to effectively price properties for the market, and if you are relying on one of those agents to give you a price  for your home that suits your time frame, your home may fall victim  to being overpriced for the market. There are many articles on the effects of over-pricing, so I won't get into that right here, and right now.  We've all heard about the dangers of overpricing, but how about this one- I saw an MLS listing last week for a property in town that I had to do a double-take on. I thought the price was wrong. It was TOO LOW. Well, that was the correct price. I brought my client to the property within hours of it coming on the market, went back later that night for  a second showing, and by that time there were already two offers on the house. We came in with an offer $25,000 above asking price, and it wasn't enough to secure the property.  Sure, the home received multiple bids,  and went under deposit within a day, but at what price to the seller? Do you think that if that home was priced properly that maybe that seller could have gotten more money for it? I do. That home was tragically under-priced, and it was a smart seller who thought he had chosen the right agent. NOT.

Some agents intentionally place a high price tag on a home just to secure the listing. We call that "buying the listing" in our business. The agents that do just that have a solid reputation for it, too.  An unwitting seller just gets caught up in it. Don't let it be you.

All of the agents in the area have the same market to contend with, the same  sold properties to compare your home to,  and the same data. Try to let your mind do the thinking when it comes to the house, and not your wallet. If  you seem to like one agent better than another, and the only thing holding you back is the price,  tell them, and negotiate the listing price with that particular agent.

Next - Marketing Your Home.

A lot of agents fall short on the marketing aspect. Don't just assume what the agent will do. ASK! You want, deserve, and need much more than a basic marketing plan. If you don't inquire about it now, and the agent doesn't offer one, it's not a good sign (pardon the pun)

Check out how their listings are presented on the MLS, and that includes photographs. Check out their standard marketing materials, including brochures. The internet is HUGE when it comes to selling yoru home. Ask for and look at what types of an enhanced presence the agent is willing to give your home at no extra cost. That agent has a website, too? great! You do know that there are over 600  million active websites, and unless that site is easily found, and has a high page rank from google, no one will ever see it, and it doesn't matter.  Ask for those internet stats, too. Dare to ask what that agents social media plan is to sell your home, too  It should involve Facebook and Twitter.

Last, but just as Important. Negotiating.

There's a few smart moves you can make when you interview your agent to check out their negotiating skills, and no agent would suspect exactly what you are doing.  Negotiate the price or terms  of your listing- see how the agent responds. Believe it or not, you want that agent to hold their ground. Try and negotiate the commission rate. I will give you a hint- The more that agent negotiates their own commission, the more easily they will be swayed to negotiate the price of your home downward. In both instances, if the agent cannot properly negotiate o their own behalf, how do you think they will negotiate for you?  

A few all too common misconceptions that you should steer clear of:

There is a lot of signs in the area from one particular company- They must be the best firm in town. NOT NECESSARILY! Are those properties sold or languishing on the market?  Lots of listings doesn't mean lots of sales. Same goes with any one agent or even a team. Lots of listings that Aren't sold? Do you want to be one of that bunch?

When you call an office because of their recognizable name, you can get any one of their agents, experienced or not, that answers the phone, and you are pretty much stuck with that agent. In the eyes of the office, you are a "call in" and whoever the duty agent is gets your call, and the listing. They can be brand new to the business. Calling an office blindly is a crap shoot.

Don't leave your biggest investment to a gamble- one that you get the right agent who prices your home correctly, markets your home properly and negotiates the best deal on your behalf.

Don't gamble on your house. Trust a professional, like me :)

Buying or Selling a Home in Fairfield County Connecticut? We'd love to represent you.

Feel free to email us here or visit our main  site at

www.CThomesAndRealEstate.com

If you have a question about buying or selling Real Estate  in Fairfield County, and are in need of representation, I invite you to contact me. I know the market like the back of my hand, know marketing inside and out, am a skilled negotiator- and I'd love to be on your side :) - Judy

The RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon will be in Fairfield CT on May 28, 2012 to Benefit Habitat For Humanity!

RE/MAX is sending its famous hot air balloon to Fairfield,  Connecticut on Memorial Day to benefit Habitat for Humanity and  the First Church outreach partners. The RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon is one of the nation’s most widely recognized corporate symbols.

The balloon will be at First Church Congregational  United Church of Christ located at 148 Beach Road in Fairfield, CT  from  approximately 8:30 AM  through 11 AM on Monday, May 28, 2012.

Weather permitting, tethered rides will be available prior to the beginning of the Memorial Day Parade.

The balloon is QUITE an amazing  sight, and it's  going to be RIGHT in our backyard! Don't miss it!

We hope to see you there!

Buying or Selling a Home in Fairfield County? We'd love to represent you.

Please visit our main  site at

www.CThomesAndRealEstate.com

If you have a question about buying or selling Real Estate in  Fairfield County, and are in need of representation, I invite you to contact me. I know the market like the back of my hand, know marketing inside and out, am a skilled negotiator- and I'd love to be on your side :) - Judy

AND.... If you have an idea for a topic that you would like to see on The CT Realty Blog, please include it in the "Post a Comment" section link below this post. We appreciate the feedback and look forward to providing you with the best real estate content, advice and service in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

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RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, real estate industry visionaries who still lead the Denver-based global franchisor today. RE/MAX is recognized as a leading real estate franchisor with the most productive sales force in the industry and a global reach of more than 80 countries. With a passion for the communities in which its agents live and work, RE/MAX isproud to have raised more than $120 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and other charities. Nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX.

Founder of ForSaleByOwner Company Hires Realtor to sell his home.

Now that's a kick. Here's a man who earned quite a bit of money as the CEO of a company that promotes  and makes a lot of money from FSBO's (For Sale By Owners),  how easy it is do yourself, and when it came time to sell his own house, what did he do?

He hired a Realtor.

The company he founded, by the way is ForSaleByOwner.com

You know what happened? The Realtor felt that the seller's asking price was the wrong strategy, and urged the founder and former CEO to raise the price by a whopping $150,000. There were multiple offers, and then.. it sold! So not only was this particular owner underpricing his home,  he will net MORE out of the sale after the real estate  commission is paid. If you want to know, his home sold for  $2.15 million and it was in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.

This just seems so incredibly comical that someone in that position would go against his own grain, and it should speak volumes to the many sellers with no real knowledge of selling real estate as to what they should do when it comes time to sell their home.

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The Top Five Mistakes that Sellers make- The Fairfield County CT Version

Here it is. It offer my own version of the Top Five Mistakes that Sellers Make.  You may have seen a littany of articles on those "top five mistakes". Go ahead if you want, and look at all of the articles on this subject-  there are quite a lot, I can assure you. As a matter of fact, I typed in "top five mistakes that sellers make" in Google and it returned about 415,000,000 results in just 0.32 seconds.

With that, I offer you my original Top Five, which may not necessarily agree with the other Top Five Lists, but I can pretty much guarantee you that all of these are appropriate for our area,  and actually..... anywhere you want to sell your home. Here they are, in order of importance.

1. Hire the Right Realtor
2. Hire the Right Realtor
3, 4 and 5. Hire the Right Realtor!

All of the reasons that your home doesn't sell is because the wrong Realtor is representing you, period- end of story.

Hiring the wrong Realtor is the worst thing that you could possibly do. All four hundred some-odd million of these lists could have stopped right there, because all of the other items that are on those lists  are agent related.

The bottom line is that it rests with your Realtor, so your top five priorities in selling your home should truly be focused on just one thing. That is, Hire the Right Realtor.  There is  only one answer to the number of "mistakes"  that I saw, and continue to see in the marketplace. Here  are some of them, and as you can see, the common denominator has to be your agent.
 
1. Overpricing Your Home- wouldn't your Realtor tell you the right price?
2. Not staging your home? Doesn't your Realtor assist you with this as part of their service?
3. Under-marketing or OVER-marketing your home including misrepresenting your home's features, condition or square footage? Your Realtor is the professional he/she should know exactly how to market your home. Shame on your Realtor for this one, period.
4. Sticking around during Showings, and/or not making your home readily accessible for showings? Hasn't your Realtor advised you how this can adversely affect your home sale?
5. Picking the wrong buyer- Shouldn't your Realtor be helping you on this?

Keep it simple and get it sold. Hire the Right Realtor.  These people did.

......and the right Realtor? That's me! :)

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