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The real estate agent that you hire to sell your house, known as the listing agent, must be able to accurately answer your most important question: 'What's it worth?' Houses sell for fair market value, which is whatever buyers are willing to offer and sellers are willing to accept. Fair market value isn't a specific number; it's a price range.
For example, suppose that an agent says that your property is worth $300,000, more or less. If your agent is a better negotiator than the buyer's agent, and the buyer desperately wants your house, you may sell it for $315,000. On the other hand, if you have to sell your house immediately, and the buyer has a better agent than you do, you may only get $285,000.
Sale prices often are directly related to a listing agent's knowledge of the price that comparable houses sell for and negotiating skills. Of course, other factors (such as the buyer's and seller's motivation, needs, and market knowledge) also are important.
A good agent can be the foundation of your real estate team. An agent helps you price your property, orchestrates the marketing and showing activities, negotiates with buyers on your behalf, supervises property inspections, and coordinates the closing. A good agent's negotiating skills and knowledge of property values can add 5 percent to 10 percent to your house's sale price.
Bad agents may pressure you to accept a low offer to make a quick sale. The real estate world is full of many well-intentioned-but-inept agents. In this section, we show you how to avoid the bad agents and how to sift through the hordes of mediocre agents to narrow the field down to good agents who are worthy of their commissions.
