Selecting a Real Estate Broker
One of the smartest things to do to help insure the best outcome to any transaction is to align yourself with quality professionals. The selection of the right Real Estate broker is pivotal to help insure the best outcome on the sale or purchase of any property.

You should develop a methodical and structured strategy to expose your situation to the broadest qualified market possible. A qualified broker will play a vital role in that process and become essential to its success.

When selecting a broker, there are several qualities that should be considered and questions to be asked.

Theses are the six “C’s” of a quality broker:

Capacity

How many other assignments (listings) is the broker working?

Your property will be competing for buyers or sellers within the market and you want to make sure you have an understanding as to what extent your property will be competing for the time and resources of your broker as well. You don’t want to be competing for the attention of your broker. Gain an understanding of your broker’s workload and understand where your assignment will fit in. The broker should be able to devote the time and attention to your property necessary for a timely and hopefully financially beneficial resolution.

Know who will be working on your assignment and understand his or her accessibility to communicate and devote the amount of time necessary to insure a successful resolution to your project.

Capability

What is the marketing strategy and how successful has it been in the past?

You want to make sure the broker will be doing more than merely posting your property on a multi-listing service, putting a sign on the front yard, and waiting for a “drive-by prospect”. Gain an understanding of how successful the broker has been on similar assignments and what strategy will be implemented on your property.

Ask to review similar assignments the broker has worked on and their resolution. You want to insure that your assignment, either buying or selling, will be exposed to the market.

Competence

Has the broker earned any designations beyond basic licensing?

Understand the qualifications and experience of your prospective broker. How long have they been in the business, what resources will be available within their shop to help promote your property?  Research the background and credentials of the broker. They should have broadened their qualification beyond just the required continuing education credits for holding a license.

A broker should have a clear command and knowledge of the market and be able to provide guidance on pricing, value, market activity, and comparable activity of similar properties to yours.

When selling a property, ask for examples of marketing material used on prior engagements. Perhaps a Broker’s Opinion of Value (BOV) could also be requested. This is a written report provided by a Broker, estimating the property value, market conditions, etc. This material can help reveal the broker’s knowledge of the market and will showcase their skills.

Contacts

What network(s) will be tapped to expose your assignment?

Contacts are the lifeblood of the Real Estate market. Your broker’s ability to expose your property or obtain purchase options will be vital to the success of your sale or purchase. They should know who is active in the market. This is especially true in the commercial real estate field.

Is your broker active in trade associations such as The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) in the case of commercial retail assignments, The National Associations of Realtors or Lion’s Club, etc which gives your broker exposure and access to these communities and networks?

Compatibility

This is not so much of a question as it is a feeling or sense of how well you can work with the broker. You will be entering into a partnership and you want to insure you can get along with your partner. There should be a mutual respect for one another.

Character

This again is just a sense or feeling you gain from interviewing your prospective broker. Search the State’s Real Estate Commission for any violations. What is the demeanor of the broker and is it compatible to fitting the situation. You may want a more aggressive broker in some situations and not so in others. The biggest question you must ask yourself is… “Do I want this person representing me in the market?”

If you want to learn more about the total process of selling a Real Estate property, visit my course “Disposition of Commercial Real Estate”.