It Pays to Hire an Active Real Estate Agent

 There are many great Anchorage area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (907) 865-6404 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I'm going to be talking about the differences between a passive agent and an active agent.

The Passive Agent

• Will use the three P's
• Puts the property in the MLS.
• Puts a sign in your yard.
• Prays that your property sells.
• Pricing: They will take into consideration the seller's opinion on the value and increase the price when listing the property.
• Experience: This agent will likely be a lower production agent. The less homes one has sold, the less practical experience they will have.
• Marketing: They will wait for buyers to come, and maybe do a few open houses and pass out some flyers. They will not be reaching out and grabbing prospective buyers.
• Communication: By nature, this client will avoid communication, especially the difficult conversations like why your home is not selling or why the pricing is not correct.

The Active Agent

• An active agent will go above and beyond these actions and utilize an aggressive marketing strategy to ensure that your home is sold at a premium price.
• They will market your home on various websites and also pass out e-flyers to the 1,400 realtors in the Anchorage/ Eagle River area.
• They will put your home on the Keller Williams site for national coverage, and they will pre-market your home to the top agents in town before it ever goes on the market.
• Pricing: Will perform a comprehensive market analysis to find an attractive price.
• A range in value will then be determined from which the seller can choose because the motivation of the seller is always what the agent has to keep in mind.
• Perhaps you're downsizing and don't need a very high selling price, or you want to move away from Alaska and want your home priced to sell quickly. An active agent will listen to your needs and price accordingly.
• Experience: Active agents will likely be selling hundreds of homes per year and have an enormous knowledge of local neighborhoods and locales.
• They will be proactive (rather than reactive) in solving problems because of their knowledge of the industry.
• Marketing: Active agents will attack buyers aggressively to get a home sold. They will utilize hundreds of websites on the internet to prospect for buyers, because 93% of all buyers now find their homes on the internet. A good agent should have your home up on at least 300-400 websites. This type of agent will utilize any avenue possible to funnel buyers towards your property.
• Communication: Feedback will be honest and upfront. They will want to communicate and educate you about the home selling process in order to sell your home quickly. Not only will they talk to you, but they will hound other agents to figure out what prospective buyers thought about your property.

In conclusion, a passive agent will be able to sell your home, but not as quickly or efficiently as an active agent. An active agent will sell your home quicker and for a much better price. If you're paying the same commission for both, it would be silly not to utilize the services of an active agent.
If you need a competent, experienced, and reliable agent then contact me and I would be glad to help with all your real estate needs in the Anchorage / Eagle River area. Give me a call at (907) 240-2804 or email me at Dar@DarWalden.com

Choosing an Agent: 10 Questions You Must Ask!

There are many great Anchorage area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (907) 865-6404 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

What Questions Should You Ask Your Realtor 

 

Today I wanted to go over the ten questions you should ask your realtor before you hire them. I have elaborated on the four most important and listed the other six questions below:

1.    How many years of experience do you have in real estate? This isn’t saying that young agents won’t do a fine job; however they truly don’t have the wisdom base and knowledge of things that happen on a daily basis.

2.    Do you specialize in listing properties or selling properties? If the agent is listing based, the most likely won’t be your best choice. There are many different responsibilities between a buyer’s agent and a listing agent!

3.    How many homes have you sold in the last year and how many were sold in my subdivision? The more familiar the agent is with your area, the better it will serve you!

4.    How will I be kept informed? Many things happen in the course of a transaction but if there is good communication between you and the agent, that is half the half the battle! Good communication will save you from frustration further down the road.

5.    What’s your plan, besides flyers, signs and the MLS to get my home sold?

6.    Are you a solo agent or a team?

7.    How much is it going to cost me to sell my home?

8.    What are my responsibilities while showing and during the transaction? Am I responsible for repairs?

9.    Who is my point of contact throughout the process?  Do I have someone I can call anytime?

10.    What is your marketing budget?

If you have any other questions about finding the right agent, give me a call at (907) 240-2804 or send me an email at dar@darwalden.com. Thanks and have a great day!

Get a Leg-up on Your Competition: Become Pre-approved

There are many great Anchorage area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (907) 865-6404 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I wanted to talk about the importance of buyers becoming pre-approved to purchase a home. The reason why it’s so important to be a pre-approved buyer is because it actually gives the agent you are working with the guidelines on how to help you hunt for a home. Being pre-approved is the first step of the house hunting process. This allows you to have your credit in line because if for some reason it isn’t, your lender will be able to give you advice on how to get things corrected. Often it’s just taking a little bit of time to shuffle around paperwork and get it straightened up.

If you are preapproved and you have presented all your documentation to the lender, they will give you a value and some loan options. Once you’ve received the value from your lender, you will give the information to your agent so they know what to work with. The key points are that you do not want to go over the value my much; $10,000 over would be maximum because there are properties that do price reductions and you can’t get a heads up to watch them. If you’re agent is looking to go higher than that, you need to have a conversation and ask why that is.

The next piece will be the type of loan you qualify for. If you’re a veteran and have veterans’ preferences, you can obtain a V.A. loan. You could also qualify for an F.H.A. loan; these are important factors and a good lender will help you pick the best loan. Don’t be afraid to ask questions! You need to know what the expectation of that loan is.

Another reason for why you should be pre-approved is when you are ready to make an offer, you’re ready to go at that point. You don’t have to find a house, then run to the bank to get pre-approved and lose the house to another buyer. Also, when an offer has been presented, the seller wants to see that you’ve been pre-approved.

Sellers won’t take your word for it; you need to show proof that you’ve taken in the necessary documents to qualify for purchasing their home. Most sellers require you to be pre-approved before they even take you into their homes. Once you’ve come to an agreement on a contract, a pre-approval letter does not mean that the loan has been fully approved.

Once you are under contract, you have been very cognizant of what you spend; you must refrain from spending $20,000 on furniture or a new car. You don’t want to do anything to change your credit because that could disqualify you from a loan. Loans have debt-to-income ratios that are required and if you change your debt ratio, it may disqualify you from that property.

If you’re looking start the purchasing process, give me a call at (907) 240-2804 or email me at dar@darwalden.com. Thanks and have a great day!