All three answers are excellent in their own right and repeating just beats a dead horse. One thing I would stress, being a top-producer in Coal City/ Diamond is that after you've reviewed an agent's qualifications and marketing plan that you REALLY talk about the pricing. Too many agents price at what the seller wants and do not stand up for their assesment of the home....that's they key! There's over a year's worth of inventory in the Coal Cty/Diamond/Carbon Hill area per the absorption rate and pricing becomes paramount...If a REALTOR cannot effectively convey the importance of pricing and stand by his/her opinion in a negotiation of sorts with you- it's unlikely that agent is going to be effective in negotiating on your behalf at a later date (hopefully sooner than TOO MUCH later though).

There are lots of good questions that you should ask a potential listing agent.

• How many homes, of my type, have you sold? (recently, 6 mos, 1 year, 5 years)
• What is your list / sale ratio?
• What is your average "days on market"
• What is your marketing plan for my home?
does it include internet (where?), do you offer multiple photos, virtual tours, color brochures
• Do you do open houses (why / why not / how often?)
• What is your price recommendation (why / how did you arrive at that / do you have comps to back that up?... do you have a "quick sale" price, and a normal sale price")
• What is your plan if I'm not under contract in 30 days / 60 days / 90 days ...etc....
• Why should I hire you? What do you bring to the table that's different than the myriad of other agents out there who want my listing.
• Will you offer a reduced commission (why / why not?)
• Are you a full-time agent?
• Do you practice dual-agency? (why / why not?)
• What do you think of Agent A and Agent B (the two other agents you're interviewing)
• Are you planning any upcoming vacations or are you going to be unavaible, and who is your back-up when you're gone?

and lastly

• Is there anything I haven't asked you, that you think I should have?

There, that should get a good interview going.

Angelia,
Shannon really touched on some critical concepts in her answer to you. Hopefully, I can add to her great post.

EXPERIENCE: Being a veteran in the RE business with a bunch of designations isn't the only type of experience. In a market such as the current one in Northern Illinois, experience with (AND THE WISDOM TO SOLVE) problems when they crop up (and they do) is more important than time in the industry. I would ask, " Do you see any issues with my homesale, and if so, how are you planning to handle them?"

MARKETING PLAN: Ask for a written marketing plan TAILORED FOR YOUR HOME. I won't go into the types of marketing concepts, but the agent should be able to provide you with a clear and concise plan for marketing YOUR home; not just what their brokerage firm does in general.. Also a marketing budget and suggestions for getting the highest value for your home.

SALES PLAN: This veers into the world of dual agency (where the agent represents you and the buyer) so if you are not comfortable with that you can ignore this. Often, agents get the listing and hope that another agent sells the home for them. I would want to know how much buyer prospecting that agent is doing. Is their marketing aimed at other agents or buyers?

PRICING: Shannon hit it on the nose; you want an agent that can give you a range for the value of your home and a rationale for that value. Ultimately, you are going to chose the marketing price, but if they are meek enough to let you just list at any price, then how strong are they going to be when it comes to negotiating on your behalf.

COMFORT: You don't have to become best friends with your agent , but with average market times of 6 months (and longer), you need to be able to work well together as a team.

Angelia...it lists you as in 60416 or Coal City/Diamond. You should be pleased to know that market activity is picking up there. For the last 30 days, the inventory of homes has fell to less than a 5 month supply. If you have additional questions about the process or your market (I live in Morris and work out of Shorewood) please do not hesitate to ask. My personal website is listed below.

Good Luck,
Tim

This is an excellent questions and kudos to you for starting this process now and, it sounds like, giving youself some time to do your homework prior to listing.

I would start by asking very open ended questions like, "What is your marketing plan?" and "Can you tell me about your background in real estate?" Start with the 'background' question first because this will do a couple of things: It will tell you, hopefully, concrete details about the agent's track record (how long in business, area(s) of specialty or niche---type of property or geographic areas served, special designations or degrees----staging professional, perhaps they hold an MBA , or know a lot about estate sales, etc.) But most importantly, you will learn the person's values as he/she tells his/her story.........this will give you a chance to see if the agent's values match up with yours. Are lots of numbers being thrown at you ($ sold, # of houses sold, rank in sales in the brokerage)? If that resonates with what is important to you, this may tell you your values are aligned. Perhaps the person is telling you about experiences with different types of buyers and sellers ( ex.: "I have helped a lot of first time home buyers." "Ive been able to help a number of FSBOs set a correct price and get the house sold"). Again, the person is relating to the work of an agent in a different way...through the kinds of people/situations....another window into the working style that helps you to decide if it is a fit. This is my long-winded way of saying the working style and personalities should match up in order for you to have an optimal agent/client relationship, so look for the KINDS of information he/she shares.

Secondly, I would ask what the marketing plan will be for your listing. This one needs to be very clearly and confidently described to you. If the agent starts mumbling about the great color flyers and a few other vague things, move on to the next interviewee. You should get a clearly described, if not written, plan that details all aspects of marketing: time frames, method/media used (websites, agent contacts, direct marketing, open houses/ brokers opens, 800 call captures, publications, e-flyers, etc.) It does not have to be all of these types of marketing, but he/she needs to tell you exactly what occurs in the marketing plan. The marketing plan discussion should also include information about how he/she will aid in the preparation of your home (staging, make suggestions for needed curb appeal, spruce-ups, etc.).

Last big question: "What is your pricing strrategy?" This tells you so much about an agent. If the agent is prepared to list the home for what you want to list it for, no questions asked, RUN don't walk to the next candidate! Your agent must have a clear method and strategy for pricing, and it needs to be based on the market....the comps...,and the agent needs to have seen the comps in person because an agent's price recommendation MUST be based on that.

But, Angelia, here is the BIG thing: While you are asking your questions and doing your due diligence, pay special attention to how many questions YOU are bing asked and whether YOU are being listend to in this process. That alone may tell you everything you need to know about an agent.

Good Luck this summer!