Questions You Must Ask When Interviewing an Agent
Anybody can be a team, but
not everybody can be a force!
1. How long
have you been selling real estate full time?
#1 Steve’s Force – 14 years
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
2. How many
homes have you sold in the past 24 months?
#1 Steve’s Force – We have
assisted over 150 families in the last two years with their real estate needs.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
3. What is
your list-to-sale ratio?
#1 Steve’s Force – 99% of the homes we list SELL.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
4. Do you
stay in contact with your past customers?
#1 Steve’s Force – Over 99% of my past customers have come back to me
to buy their second, third, fourth, etc. home. I have stayed
in contact
with every client that we have sold a home to by the following methods:
- We send out a monthly publication to all past clients.
- Phone calls
- Send out gifts to them on their
birthday, anniversary of date we closed on their home, and wedding
anniversaries.
- At least 15 times a year they
receive something that reminds them of Steve’s Force.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor®
___________
5. What
percent of your listings have you sold yourself?
#1 Steve’s Force – 33% of our listings sell to our clients.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
6. What is
the average number of listings in your inventory at any one time?
#1 Steve’s Force – We average around 15-20 active listings, which
means our phones stay busy with calls of prospective buyers.
We are able to
switch these calls from one property to others that may better suit their needs.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
7. What do
you know about the area?
#1 Steve’s Force – I have lived in Hendersonville since 1972 and have
been selling real estate in Middle Tennessee since 1990.
I went to elementary, Junior High, and High School in Hendersonville. I have also been
involved in many civic organizations in
Hendersonville.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
8. What is
your commission rate?
#1 Steve’s Force – Our office policy is 7%. Beware of agents who will
cut their commission, you will get what you pay for. If an agent
cannot
defend their commission rate, how well will they support the list price of your
home. We believe that it does not cost any more
to have
the very best Realtors® representing you in the transaction.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
9. What is
the length of your listing agreement?
#1 Steve’s Force – Actually 1 day, because if at any time you are
unhappy with our service, you are entitled to contact us and ask to
have the
listing withdrawn. This is our personal guarantee.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
10. What
specifically will you do to market my home?
#1 Steve’s Force – We will discuss in depth.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
11. If I
list my home with you, when would the marketing begin?
#1 Steve’s Force – Immediately!
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
12. Will my
home be placed on the Internet? At what sites?
#1 Steve’s Force – YES. The world will be able to find your listing
at SteveShrum.com (7 pictures), Realtor.com (6 pictures),
Crye-Leike.com (10
pictures), Realtracs.com (10 pictures). There will be 10 pictures on the MLS
system for all Realtors® to look
at instead of one.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
13. Does
your company have a web page?
#1 Steve’s Force – YES
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
14. Do you
have a web page?
#1 Steve’s Force – YES
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
15. How
will showing be scheduled for my home during the week and weekends?
#1 Steve’s Force – Crye-Leike has a computerized appointment center
open 7 days a week from 7 am – 8
pm, staffed by 20
operators. Five operators are available to set appointments at
any given time. This is great when you need to show a Crye-Leike listing
at 10
am on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Ask other Realtors® how showings will be
scheduled on weekends and after hours! Also
if your house is unavailable to show
for various reasons (sick or unexpected company) all you have to do is call the
appointment center
at 221-6400 to suspend showings.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
16. How do
you know who shows my house and how do you follow up?
#1 Steve’s Force – Our computerized appointment center e-mails a
report to us showing the buyer’s agent and office phone numbers
daily.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
17. What
are your office hours?
#1 Steve’s Force – Our office is open 7 days a week from 8:30 am
until 6:00 pm. Agents are present to answer any real estate
concerns. I am
personally at the office Monday through Sunday. I return all my phone calls
within a few minutes.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
18. How
will I be kept informed?
#1 Steve’s Force – You will be notified of all feedback derived from
showings and any other information concerning your property.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
19. How
often will I be updated?
#1 Steve’s Force – Every Friday we will send you a report that will
tell you what we are doing to get your home SOLD, including
all the feedback
from Realtors® and their customers and clients.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
20. May I
have a copy of your personal resume?
#1 Steve’s Force – YES
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
21. How many agents does your company have?
#1 Steve’s Force – Our office in Hendersonville has approximately 90
agents. Crye-Leike has over 800 agents in the Middle
Tennessee area.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
22. Does
your company have a Relocation Department and regularly work with out-of-towners
and transferees?
#1 Steve’s Force – YES, since Crye-Leike is the #1 real estate
company in this area, we get a lot of relocation customers.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
23. How
will you advertise my home?
#1 Steve’s Force – I personally write all my ads using the following
publications:
a) The Tennessean
b) Homes Magazine
c) Buy-A-Home Magazine
d) Crye-Leike Homebuyers Guide
e) Star News
f) Real Estate Review
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
24. Tell me
about your force and how they help you sell your homes.
#1 Steve’s Force – Consists of 4 full-time administrative staff
members:
a) Dianne Tubbs – 18 years of real estate experience
b) Jeannie Wilkins – 3 years of real estate experience
c) Linda McBride – 2 years of real estate experience
d) Diane Simpson – 1 year of real estate experience
I also have an excellent Loan Officer, Pam Moore, and a fantastic Title
Company, Tina Shelton, President.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
25. Visit
my website for what past clients have said about my real estate services.
www.steveshrum.com
26. Will
other Crye-Leike Realtors® see my home?
#1 Steve’s Force – Every Tuesday morning we have an educational sales
meeting and discuss new listings. We then tour
the houses, although occasionally
there are a few exceptions. There are approximately 35 other Crye-Leike Realtors®
that
will view your home and give me their personal opinion. You will receive a
copy of this in your weekly update.
#2 Realtor® ___________
#3 Realtor® ___________
27. SmartLine.
By calling 661-5800, or our 1-800 number and inputting a 4-digit code, a
potential buyer can instantly get all the information on your home. The buyer
can call the number from an advertisement, my website or sitting outside your
home using a mobile phone. At the same time, my “Buyers Specialist” Debora
is paged and she will return the call immediately. The SmartLine, offered
exclusively by Crye-Leike, is available 24 hours, 7 days a week.
28. Open
House – You have the option to have us hold an Open House, Sundays 2-4 pm.
29. We have
a full-time Marketing Department that designs all brochures and other marketing
material needed to sell your home for top dollar and quickly.
30. Crye-Leike
offers the most advanced technological tools in the business, including much
faster access to the Internet via T1 and ISDN connections. Crye-Leike is the
only real estate company that has 20 full-time IT employees in-house to insure
that services are operating efficiently.
31. I am
the President of the Sumner Association of Realtors® for 2004.
32.
I’m called the hardest
working Realtor® in the business.
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