6 Mistakes Your D.C. Metro Area Home Realtor is Probably Making

If you’re getting ready to buy or sell a home, the first step you should take is to find an excellent real estate agent to guide you through the process.

Once you hire someone, you’ll want to keep any eye out for stupid mistakes your D.C. Metro Area Realtor might be making.

6 Characteristics of a D.C. Metro Area Home Realtor You Want to Avoid:

• Lack of experience. You want a Realtor who knows what they’re doing. If you find someone then find out they’ve only sold a couple houses, you might want to reconsider. 
• Gets the facts wrong. If you’re looking over your listing and see your agent has listed your house as having three bedrooms when it, in fact, has four, it can have a detrimental effect if it isn’t caught early. A price set for a three-bedroom house might seem too expensive for buyers. However, if they know it is a four-bedroom house, the pricing will probably be more realistic.
• Not marketing effectively. Once the “for sale” sign is in your front yard, ask yourself what else your agent is doing to get the word out about your home. If your home isn’t listed on online real estate listings, you don’t have a good Realtor.
• Using bad pictures. If there are just two or three pictures, or photos are blurry, bad angles, and unattractive, you might want to reconsider new pictures – or a new agent. If your agent is using his smartphone instead of taking photos with a good camera on a tripod – or hiring someone to take the pictures – you might want to rethink things.
• Not communicating effectively or in a timely manner. If you’ve placed three calls to your agent in one day and they haven’t returned them, it reflects poorly on them and can leave you in a bundle of knots. When a house is on the market, things can change at a moment’s notice. You want to know your real estate agent is readily available with any questions or concerns you have.
• Ignoring market conditions. The most important thing a real estate agent can do for you when selling your house is set the price correctly. In order to do this, the agent needs a firm grasp on how much houses in your neighborhood have been selling for in recent month. An asking price that is too high will sit untouched. It’s important that you and your agent be realistic about how much your home will sell for.  Your agent needs to be professional and not display emotion when helping you set the price. 

The most important thing you can do to avoid these types of mistakes is to thoroughly interview potential real estate agents. Ask them how many homes they’ve sold. Ask about their education and experience. Ask for referrals and then actually talk to their clients so you can get an idea of the kind of experience they had with the agent.