Most people fail at selecting experienced agents.

Experience Matters When Selecting A Real Estate Agent – Just Not For Most People

Surveys show that only 57% of home buyers or sellers would use the last agent they worked with in the future. By service standards that is a very low percentage. Part of the problem is that people put very little thought on selecting an agent. As a result, many consumers are stuck with a mediocre agent.

Buying or selling a home is the single largest transaction that most consumers undertake. The process can be filled with uncertainty, emotion and pitfalls, so most buyers and sellers choose to work with a real estate agent to help them through the process. Selecting an agent is obviously an important step, and most consumers would agree that agent expertise and experience should weigh heavily in that choice. The shocking statistic is that the majority of home buyers and sellers select agents who have little or no experience closing real estate transactions.

Most Consumers Do Not Select Experienced Real Estate Agents

If one delves into the statistics one can see that the average agent sold a little over 6 properties in 2009 in metro Milwaukee. That is one every other month. Hardly enough to be an expert in this field. If one removes the number of sales from the top 200 agents (this includes 9 out of 10 of Homeowners Concept agents) then we are left with 2,500+ agents that only did 2-3 deals last year. Surprised by the data? Most people are. If there is one thing that can be said for our industry, it is that there are loads of hucksters and part-timers out there who fast talk their way into a couple of deals each year. Consumers can do better.

How Many Transactions is Too Many?

A small group of agents closed a very large number of transactions in 2009. A few agents closed more than 50 transactions last year. Certainly they have significant transaction experience, but realize that the only way this is physically possible is by working with a substantial team of folks or by sacrificing service. There are only so many hours in each work week and in the high commission world an agent spends considerable time trying to get listings. If you are planning to work with a very high volume agent, recognize that you will be interacting more with their team than with the agent who is getting credit for the transaction, or you may be sacrificing service levels because your agent is assisting so many customers. You will want to understand who is on the team, and when exactly you will get to work with the main agent, along with getting clarity on the service levels that they provide to you.

Striking a Balance

Consumers should require that their agents demonstrate results. Stick with full-time agents who do this for a living and are closing at least 2 to 3 deals per month, and you’ll be using an agent in the top 5% of all agents in Greater Milwaukee. Our own agents consistently rank in the top 5% of agents (and of course, the savings in commissions is a bonus). We are able to close more deals than a typical agent by focusing 100% of our work on selling homes and closing deals, not on trying to prospect for clients. At the same time, we are not ultra-high volume agents, to make sure that our customers do not have to sacrifice service to obtain our expertise. Furthermore and because of the way the Homeowners program works we have an extremely low turnover (unlike the high commission agencies). The strategy is to have only full time agents that have been in business a very long time and do at least 3 times as much sales per year as the average agent. To that we have succeeded and our clients are very thankful. Our record and A+ rating with BBB speaks for itself. Consumers should be more diligent when selecting their real estate agent and make sure that they select agents who have substantial experience getting deals done.

How quickly you sell depends largely on which seller profile you fit in.

Getting your home sold in the Greater Milwaukee area is not as tough as you might think despite the market (now dealing without the tax credit). The key is understanding a few things about yourself and how you approach the market that determines if and how quickly you sell.

What Home Buyers Want

Right now, there are roughly half the number of buyers in the market as we would normally see. As a general rule, they are conservative and concerned due to the state of the economy and tough lending requirements. They are looking for value. Ultimately, they are going to buy the home that is the best value on the day they make their purchase decision… Wouldn’t you if you were buying today?

Understanding The Housing Competition

Knowing that buyers are looking for value, another key factor if you want to sell a home is knowing who your true competition really is. For you to determine “good value,” you have to know what to compare with. This takes working with a real estate agent that understands the market better than the others. Choosing your initial market position is perhaps the most important factor when deciding to put your home on the market.

Your Motivation To Sell A Home.

So you know what buyers want and you understand your competition and how to value your home, the next and final step is to understand your current situation. Are you motivated enough to sell your home? Here’s a simple test:

Pick which of the below choices best describes you. Think seriously before you decide, as this will help you greatly.

1. The Casual Seller - The casual seller says things like “We are not in a hurry,” or “We don’t want to give it away.” You can expect this person to say “We will sell if we can get $X ….”
2. The Serious Seller - The serious seller says things like “I understand the market and I’m willing to sell my home for what I’m seeing out there.” This seller is ready to sell at “perceived market value” and they expect to price their home with the competition to get it sold.
3. The Very Serious Seller - The very serious seller must sell now. They are willing to create a perception of value and entice buyers to select their home before all others.

Who will sell their home in the next few months?

So, what kind of a seller are you?

If you answered the above question as honestly as you could, you need to know that the casual seller is not going to sell their home in today’s market. There are just way too many homes for sale and the casual sellers are doing themselves and the very serious sellers a dis-service by adding to the inventory.

The market will eventually recover and there will again be great times to sell, but today’s buyer pool is looking for value. Even the serious seller is most likely not going to sell their home. With over 11 months of supply in SE-WI plus new short sales and foreclosures entering the market, only the very serious sellers have the best chance of being successful over the next 12 months. Luckily with our very low commission of 1.5%, a seller listing with Homeowners Concept has quite a few thousands of dollars in savings to play with (As did idol Danny Gokey). A serious seller can take the savings and deduct it from the list price making their home much more attractive to buyers.

One of our agents gets featured in the Journal.

Jeanne Van Oss, Homeowners Concept, Wauwatosa
By Robert Warde

Posted: May 29, 2010

For 23 years Jeanne Van Oss worked as a commercial pilot for leading airlines and a corporation. During those flights she hung her hat where passengers boarding the plane could see it. Inside and visible to those passengers was a card that read “attitude is everything.”

It was that outgoing personality that caused several of her friends to advise her to go into real estate and within weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, her seniority class at American Airlines was told it was going to be furloughed. Van Oss needed a job fast. She lived in Illinois at the time and got her license as soon as she could.

“I’ve always liked helping people. Even when I was at O’Hare, when I had some downtime, I would stand in the concourse and help people get to their gates. I just enjoyed doing it. In a way, I’m kind of doing that now with guiding my clients to their closing. I also enjoy the fact that each transaction is different and has its own situations and challenges,” Van Oss said.

In 2003, Van Oss wanted to live outside of the city. “I grew up in the country and I wanted to be in the country so we moved to Burlington in 2003,” she said.

Van Oss joined Homeowners Concept, a company that offers options ranging from limited to full service. “When I heard about Homeowners Concept, I joined them in 2009 because they have a full-service option. They do huge volume and I’m able to support my family. I’m real happy here,” she said.

Van Oss recommends referrals and doing some homework as the best way to find an agent. “Referrals are huge. Ask your family and friends for an introduction and if they don’t know anybody, then I would do a search and interview three or four different companies and look for that sense of reliability, trust, values and what they provide in a sense of history,” she said.

Van Oss has built success in the business, already meeting her 2010 sales goals and will have eight sales closing in June if all goes well.

In recalling her first listing in Wisconsin, Van Oss said it could have been the highest commission she earned, even though she enlisted the help of another broker in her office at the time because he had more experience selling commercial real estate. Ultimately, the owner of a $4 million hotel in the Wisconsin Dells opted not to sell, despite several offers.

“It was challenging learning all the ins and outs of commercial real estate and driving to the Dells to show the hotel. I think she was trying to see what people were willing to pay,” Van Oss said.

In her off time, she likes to plant wildflowers and work in her garden. “I also spend time with my children. I have two little ones and a teenager. I like to spend time with my husband and kids and catch my breath. We love to ski and bike and do things outdoors,” she said.

Van Oss also is a member of the Humane Society and works to create awareness of shaken baby syndrome. Her awareness has been heightened with the number of media reports about children who have fallen victim to being violently shaken. Someday she’d like to use her flying skills to make missionary trips to South Africa or South America.