5 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Real Estate Agent

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US News had an article this week Click Here to Read addressing this question. I know this may be preaching to the choir a bit, but it made me think that anyone in sales should be proactive in any and all presentations they give to a potential client. As you read through this list, be thinking of ways that you can have these types of questions already answered. You may want to have them in writing and ready to hand to the client before the first question is even asked!

  1. How long have you been in the business? Question behind the question: How much experience do you have working with clients who had the exact same need I have?
  2. What geographic areas and types of properties do you handle? Real question: How qualified are you to sell my specific property in my neighborhood?
  3. How will you communicate with me? Real question: Will you communicate with me exactly the way I want you to – when I want you to and using my preferred medium?
  4. Can you share references?  OR Who can I talk to, that is doing what I am doing, that you have helped?
  5. What will it cost me to sell this property?  Real issue: What is the bottom line $$ figure I will walk away with?
  6. Bonus – my suggestion:  How will you market my property? Better stated: What are you going to do to earn the commission I’m going to pay you?

While these questions are specific to real estate, they apply, in some form or fashion, to all sales. Before meeting with a client, in person or on the phone, we need to have a game plan. It would be best in writing, so that you have answers to all of their questions before they are even asked.

If you are ever interested in reading prior weekly emails, please visit my Facebook page: Mike Smalling Mortgage Advisor

The Week Ahead
There will be two major economic events this week. The ECB meeting will take place on Thursday. Investors will be looking for news about additional stimulus measures. The important monthly Employment report will come out on Friday. As usual, this data on the number of jobs, the Unemployment Rate, and wage inflation will be the most highly anticipated economic data of the month. Earlier in the week, ISM Manufacturing will come out on Monday and ISM Services will be released on Wednesday. Construction Spending, Factory Orders, the Trade Balance, and Productivity will round out the schedule.

The Week That Was
It was a volatile holiday-shortened week. Mixed US economic data was roughly neutral for mortgage rates. Anticipation of additional stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB) was favorable, however, and mortgage rates ended the week a little lower.

In the big picture, mortgage rates are primarily being driven by indications about the pace of global economic growth and the resulting implications for central bank policy. In the US, investors are still sorting out the negative impact of unusually severe winter weather, but they expect the US economy to show moderate growth in coming years. The outlook in Europe is less optimistic, however. ECB officials have indicated that conditions in the euro zone warrant additional monetary stimulus to boost the economies in the region. Investors expect the ECB to signal new measures as soon as next week. One possible action could be a bond purchase program, and the potential added demand from the ECB has driven bond yields around the world lower in recent weeks.

The report on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the broadest measure of economic activity. As such, the data is revised multiple times. Investors anticipated that the first revision to first quarter US GDP would change the slight increase of 0.1% seen in the first reading to a decline of roughly -0.5%. This week's report showed that the decline was an even larger -1.0% during the first quarter. Investors were not worried by the shortfall, however, since it was due to an unexpectedly large decline in inventories. If inventories drop in one quarter, it means that production, and thus GDP growth, will be higher in future quarters. Current estimates are for second quarter GDP growth of around 3.5%, which would mean an average of roughly 2.0% growth over the first six months of this year.