Being honest and telling the truth are extremely important (and also part of the National Association of Realtors® Code of Ethics) traits to look for in a real estate agent.  While it’s not always possible to tell when a person is being dishonest or not telling the truth, there are other ways to tell if a real estate agent is telling the truth!

A great way to find out if a real estate agent is an honest person is to ask them for five of their recent sellers’ contact information.  Keep in mind, however, any past seller must give their permission for the real estate agent to provide their contact information.  Once you have five of their past client's information, pick up the phone or e-mail them to ask about their experience working with the agent.  Another good idea to learn about past clients of the real estate agent is to ask for testimonials.

If a real estate agent is unable to provide past client's contact information and/or past client testimonials, it usually means either they are not being honest with what they are telling you or they don’t have any past clients.  Either way, a real estate agent who cannot provide contact information of past clients or testimonials, maybe a real estate agent to not choose to represent you to sell your home.

The job of a real estate agent who is representing a seller, in a nutshell, is to get the most money for their client's home in the least amount of time!  A real estate agent should know what to say to a buyer's representative and when to say it.  A seller's real estate agent should not send a counter-offer from their client back to the buyer's representative without any dialogue.  If this were the case, what is the need for real estate agents?  The seller's real estate agent's job is to be the voice of the seller!

Generally in life, there are people who avoid confrontation and conflict at all costs.  If this is the personality of a seller's real estate agent, the seller is likely to not maximize the price they receive for their house!

A very common mistake made by sellers when selling a home is not researching the real estate agents experience and past results.  It’s very common that a seller will choose a real estate agent because they are their best friend or a colleagues spouse.  Certainly their best friend or colleagues spouse could be a great real estate agent, but make sure you know this is really the case before choosing them!  Selecting the first real estate agent you know can be a huge mistake!

When selling your home, make sure to find out how many transactions they do over the course of a year.  Are they a full-time real estate agent or a part-timer?  Do they have experience selling similar homes?  A full-time real estate agent who sells 100 homes a year and has been doing so for the past 5 years has a better chance of selling your home than a part-time real estate agent who has been in the business for 6 months and has sold one home!  The more transactions a real estate agent does, the better they will know how to handle specific situations!

Lack of communication is one of the most reoccurring feedback topics from a dissatisfied seller!  As mentioned above, selling a home is stressful, and not being communicated with from your real estate agent can make it even worse.  As imagined, a seller who selects an agent with poor communication may start to wonder if their real estate agent is even selling real estate anymore!

A very important interview question to ask a real estate agent is about their communication.  There are many real estate agents who don’t feel the need to follow up for feedback from private showings of their sellers property.  This is a huge disservice to their clients!  It’s extremely important that a real estate agent provides feedback from the buyers real estate agent, in a timely fashion.  While this isn’t always possible as some buyers agent may never provide feedback, 95% of the time a seller should expect feedback from showings on their property!

It’s also important to find out how a real estate agent communicates.  A real estate agent should be able to adapt to your preferred communication method.  If text messaging is preferred during “business hours,” that’s how the real estate agent should communicate.  If a real estate agent is unable to accommodate the preferred method, it’s very possible the level of communication is going to be sub-par.

It’s important to understand that an overpriced home cannot be sold by the best real estate agent in town who has the best marketing plan! Overpricing a home is a very common mistake that sellers make.  So what does a comprehensive marketing plan entail?  A real estate agent needs to have a strong balance of both “older” marketing tactics and “newer” marketing tactics in their plan!

“Older” marketing tactics that you should expect from a real estate agent include tactics such as newspaper advertisements, direct mailings, and television advertising.  The first thing you need to find out from a real estate agent is whether or not they utilize these forms of marketing.  Many real estate agents will not because it costs them money.  It’s also a good idea to ask a real estate agent about the frequency of these marketing tactics.  Do they plan on putting the house in the newspaper once a month?  On TV every other month?  This can eliminate any frustration down the road when you don’t see your home in the newspaper on a daily basis!

“Newer” marketing tactics that you should expect from a real estate agent include tactics such as their own personal website, their own personal blog, and active social media profiles.  It’s important not only for the real estate agents broker to have a prominent website but also their own website as it generates a greater chance for your home to be found online!  Seeing as the majority of home buyers are now starting their search online, it’s crucial that a real estate agent has a very strong online presence.

A couple things to consider; Is the real estate agent active on Pinterest? Is the real estate agent an active blogger?  Do they have a strong following on Twitter?  If a real estate agent is lacking their own website, their own blog, or is not active on social media websites, you may want to reconsider selecting them to sell your home!