Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation
Call us at (808) 426-7211 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation
There are a lot of real estate agents to choose from in Hawaii. So, how can you be sure that you’re getting the best team to fit your needs as a home seller? Try asking these ten questions to a Realtor to find out whether he/she is worth their mettle.
1. How many homes have you sold in the last 12 months? If you were needing brain surgery, I’m sure you would want a brain surgeon that has performed a lot of procedures and done them successfully. Remember to ask them how many homes they have PERSONALLY sold. Realtors may borrow credibility from the numbers that their brokerage sold - heck, even we did that in the beginning. We sold 137 homes in 2015.
2. Are you a full-time Realtor? Over half of the licensed Realtors in Hawaii do not sell any homes in a one year period, and the other half only sell a handful of homes. All of our licensed team members are full-time Realtors - it's a very demanding industry that requires one's full attention to provide the high level of service that every homeowner deserves.
3. What is your marketing budget per month? The average agent spends less than a car payment. A Realtor’s marketing budget plays a direct role in the amount of exposure they provide for your home. More exposure usually translates into higher offers. Again, make sure the answer you get is for their personal marketing budget and not their brokerage's budget. We spend about $20,000 a month on marketing.
4. Will you promote my listing on the radio? We have had Hawaii’s only one-hour real estate radio show for three years. We just aired our 223rd show! Our listener’s average household income is in the $100,000 range, and we know a lot of Realtors listen in - and they may have a buyer for your home!
5. Have you written a real estate book? The reason we wrote one was that we found that it would be a helpful resource for both buyers and sellers in Hawaii. Click here to see a video about our real estate book.
6. Will you produce a professional video tour of my home and not a slide show? Did you know that 99% of consumers would prefer to see a video? Unfortunately, very few Realtors will produce one for their listing. Realize there is a difference between a video tour that walks you through the home and gives you a feel for the floor plan and how different rooms flow through the home. Taking the same static photos, putting them into a slide show, and adding some musics does not give one an idea of how the home is laid out. Once you have a real video tour done of your home you will never go back to slideshows. To watch one of our tours click here!
7. Do you have a communication guarantee? The number one complaint that consumers have when working with a Realtor is that they never hear from their Realtor once the home is listed. We certainly understand the frustration and take a more proactive approach to communication with our clients. We will call you every Monday to let you know what is going on with your listing. Even if there is nothing to report, we will check in with you to see if you have any questions or concerns - no chasing us down.
8. Do you have an Easy-Exit Listing Agreement? Some Realtors may not be so eager to let you out of a listing agreement, especially if they are only selling a few homes a year. We believe that if we are not doing everything we told you we would - you can fire us and pay nothing - no further obligation!
9. Do you have a professional showing service? We use a professional showing service that agents can get a hold of 7 days a week from 6AM to 7PM. Also, they are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for online request. The showing service also requests a survey from the visiting agent and the results are shared real time with our sellers. The service also verifies that the agent is in fact a Realtor and not someone trying to get into your home.
10. Do you have a Guaranteed Sale Program? Yes. If a Realtor is confident in their ability to sell your home, they should be equally confident in buying it if they don’t. We would be glad to sit down with any homeowner to go over the details of this program. It’s our way of saying we are confident that we can get your home sold for the most amount of money in the shortest period of time.
These ten questions should set you off on the right foot when you’re in search of a quality Realtor in Hawaii. Please don’t hesitate to ask us these questions - we would be more than happy to discuss them with you.
Aloha!
1. How many homes have you sold in the last 12 months? If you were needing brain surgery, I’m sure you would want a brain surgeon that has performed a lot of procedures and done them successfully. Remember to ask them how many homes they have PERSONALLY sold. Realtors may borrow credibility from the numbers that their brokerage sold - heck, even we did that in the beginning. We sold 137 homes in 2015.
2. Are you a full-time Realtor? Over half of the licensed Realtors in Hawaii do not sell any homes in a one year period, and the other half only sell a handful of homes. All of our licensed team members are full-time Realtors - it's a very demanding industry that requires one's full attention to provide the high level of service that every homeowner deserves.
3. What is your marketing budget per month? The average agent spends less than a car payment. A Realtor’s marketing budget plays a direct role in the amount of exposure they provide for your home. More exposure usually translates into higher offers. Again, make sure the answer you get is for their personal marketing budget and not their brokerage's budget. We spend about $20,000 a month on marketing.
4. Will you promote my listing on the radio? We have had Hawaii’s only one-hour real estate radio show for three years. We just aired our 223rd show! Our listener’s average household income is in the $100,000 range, and we know a lot of Realtors listen in - and they may have a buyer for your home!
5. Have you written a real estate book? The reason we wrote one was that we found that it would be a helpful resource for both buyers and sellers in Hawaii. Click here to see a video about our real estate book.
6. Will you produce a professional video tour of my home and not a slide show? Did you know that 99% of consumers would prefer to see a video? Unfortunately, very few Realtors will produce one for their listing. Realize there is a difference between a video tour that walks you through the home and gives you a feel for the floor plan and how different rooms flow through the home. Taking the same static photos, putting them into a slide show, and adding some musics does not give one an idea of how the home is laid out. Once you have a real video tour done of your home you will never go back to slideshows. To watch one of our tours click here!
7. Do you have a communication guarantee? The number one complaint that consumers have when working with a Realtor is that they never hear from their Realtor once the home is listed. We certainly understand the frustration and take a more proactive approach to communication with our clients. We will call you every Monday to let you know what is going on with your listing. Even if there is nothing to report, we will check in with you to see if you have any questions or concerns - no chasing us down.
8. Do you have an Easy-Exit Listing Agreement? Some Realtors may not be so eager to let you out of a listing agreement, especially if they are only selling a few homes a year. We believe that if we are not doing everything we told you we would - you can fire us and pay nothing - no further obligation!
9. Do you have a professional showing service? We use a professional showing service that agents can get a hold of 7 days a week from 6AM to 7PM. Also, they are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for online request. The showing service also requests a survey from the visiting agent and the results are shared real time with our sellers. The service also verifies that the agent is in fact a Realtor and not someone trying to get into your home.
10. Do you have a Guaranteed Sale Program? Yes. If a Realtor is confident in their ability to sell your home, they should be equally confident in buying it if they don’t. We would be glad to sit down with any homeowner to go over the details of this program. It’s our way of saying we are confident that we can get your home sold for the most amount of money in the shortest period of time.
These ten questions should set you off on the right foot when you’re in search of a quality Realtor in Hawaii. Please don’t hesitate to ask us these questions - we would be more than happy to discuss them with you.
Aloha!
