I'll be honest, I've never used a real estate agent to sell a home. I've used a wonderful buyers agent to buy two homes but have never had to go through the process of deciding who to use to sell my home (I've sold privately once and been door-knocked the second), so I really have no clue as to what one should consider or how one should go about choosing an agent. It's a big decision afterall, that could potentially have a direct impact on your finances. Pauliene from Mike Pero on the Kapiti Coast who is a regular guest contributor on this blog has this to say about choosing who to sell your home.....

• Do you do it yourself?
• Do you choose an agent to do that for you?
• Do you choose the one who will charge the least?
• Do you choose the one who says they will pay for the advertising or that all you need is to throw a photo or two on the net and the rest is success?
• Do you choose your friend or relation or your mates friend?
• Do you choose the professional sales person who will do the best job for you and charge you a fair fee for a great result?

You see no matter who you choose the fee will be relative.

A great agent will cost more but get you a better price.

A cheap agent will cost less but because they can’t even negotiate their own fee how are they going to negotiate a great price for you? Save a couple of thousand dollars in fees and it will cost you more in the price you achieve as these people need to get lots of sales to make up for the lower fees.

On a $400000 property the difference between an average agent and a great agent could be as little as $2500. The great agent will get you more, much more than the $2500 saved.

$2500 is less than one bid at auction or a counter offer in a negotiation.

A great agent will attract more people by allowing you to have your property advertised both off line and online. They understand the importance of getting 100% of the market through your property so when they sit at your table with an offer they can say “Mr Vendor this is representation of 100% of what the market will offer as I have had your property offered to 100% of the market.”

While online only gets a large percentage of the buyers it does not get 100% and sometimes the best buyers are the offline buyers. Go for 100% of the buyers. Invest to get a return.

These are just two reasons you should not do it yourself as you are only available part time and your buyers will be there when they want to be, your agent can take responsibility for all things selling and once you see how hard they work for you it is not even a consideration to do it yourself.

Believe me the best prices in the shortest time with the least amount of hassle are achieved by agents in the market every day.

Choose wisely as you only get one chance to get the best return for your greatest investment.

What are your thoughts? What is the most important thing you look for when choosing a real estate agent?

Pauliene is a Licensed Real Estate Agent with Mike Pero based on the beautiful Kapiti Coast. Having seen a fair bit of the world after visiting NZ she lost her heart to it and in 2014 took the plunge emigrated her with her husband. You can follow Pauliene on her Facebook page or contact her on pauliene.vanstrien@mikepero.com or 04 902 7800

The information contained in this article is of a general nature and should not be taken as advice. It reflects the opinions of the writer only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of New Zealand Home Loans.