An Expert Real Estate Agent…
Means the difference between a so-so offer and a great offer (translated: thousands of dollars). It also means the difference between a deal that collapses and a deal that holds together through until closing. Nothing like starting over after a collapse when your offer is already accepted in Newberg and your boxes are packed!
For a $250k house in a low-inventory market, even a low-quality agent can get a good offer and hold the deal through to the end or at least, get another buyer relatively quickly.
But if you’re in the $600s, the game changes dramatically.
Keep in mind that your buyer is not a median wage Oregonian. The number of buyers who can command $600k in Oregon and who can to live well away from the urban core is much smaller than you might think.
Given the swift rise in prices in recent years, your buyer might not feel lucky he can afford acreage, but might feel like the power of his dollar is diminished and that he is getting less for his money than he would have before. He might be paying every cent he has. At $600k, he’s going to want more than a lovely piece of land and a fantastic arena. He’s going to want the house to be move-in ready and beautiful, so your marketing must communicate those things.
1. The Expert Real Estate Agent has a Quality Marketing Presentation
This is why your agent’s presentation and marketing materials should be professional and beautiful. They impute value to the property. That means, at the very LEAST, a professional photographer and professionally printed flyers and brochures, bright, well-lit photos done from the right angles so that your house looks as good as it can look.
Pretty sells and it sells all day long. Buyers will buy pretty even when the pretty is overpriced and smaller and in a bad neighborhood. For acreage property, there should be a drone tour done by a professional. The sign is a professionally placed yard-arm that doesn’t list sideways in two weeks.
2. The Expert Real Estate Agent Markets Your House EVERYWHERE !
Marketing must go Everywhere! Buyers are no longer married to a small number of sites or outlets – they are everywhere, and so must the listing be. An agent with dual privileges in the WVMLS would be a wise choice. Statewide coverage is necessary for an acreage property in Carlton. After all, folks will travel for a good horse property when they won’t for a typical suburban house.
3. The Expert Real Estate Agent Is a Local
A local agent will have local buyers and ties to other local buyer’s agents. A local agent will get more feet into your house and ensure better exposure for your house within the best audience – people who already live here and know how great it is. An agent who KNOWS what the FHA loan limits are for the area is a must. Someone who knows the common negotiating strategies used by local buyer’s agents is a real help!
4. The Expert Real Estate Agent Is Local Acreage-Rated
Local acreage rated: Someone who KNOWs that certain local septic techs are to be avoided at all costs, where to find a well log and how to troubleshoot water issues that for other agents would be deal-breakers (flow is declining, do you need a deeper well, a new well or a renovation?). Someone who understands local zoning and tax deferral programs, soil types and soil maps.
For example, a while back I was running an analysis and needed background on an old sale that had come in particularly low, so I called the non-local agent who sold it and found out she did not know that the property was dividable when she sold it!
How much money did she cost the seller?! Hmmm.
5. The Expert Real Estate Agent Has Deep Experience
An agent seasoned with many transactions behind him or her is a MUST. This is because real estate school does not teach an agent the skills needed to keep a deal together.
The best evidence of that is the high collapse rate for transactions. Obviously, some deals die through no fault of the agent. But many deals are salvageable with the right skill set and it is a skill set born out of the trenches. Think of it like teaching. Are you a better teacher now than in your first year? Why? Because you’ve been there, done that, and you KNOW what works and what doesn’t.
A veteran of many transactions – not just many years– is your best bet. Someone who knows how to avoid the low-ball appraisal and what to do if you get one, someone who knows the local appraisers, someone who can negotiate a sudden, last-minute repair for cheap or how to avoid doing a repair you Don’t want to do. Someone who knows the difference between good faith and complete capitulation.
6. The Expert Real Estate Agent is Backed by a Strong Franchise with In-House Legal Representation
The agent should have a strong franchise behind her, preferably one with an on-staff lawyer. Amazing how frequently a strong company with a lawyer comes in handy when a pesky buyer decides to make waves.
The wrong agent can cost you thousands and thousands of dollars. They could cost you the loss of the house you want to buy as well as buyers for your own house.
