Pekin, IL

The 4 key things you need to know about your Agent:

1. Is he or she Full Time? Now more than ever with the market the way it is, a major factor in having a successful and rewarding real estate experience is having a REAL pro, not your cousin Larry who does it for a little extra cash.

2. Skill Set. Does your Realtor have the skills required to help you with your particular situation? If you're facing a short sale, you want a short sale specialist, relocating, you need someone with the skills to help you make your move successfully and easily, etc.

3. References. What do the people who have worked with your Realtor in the past have to say about him or her?

4. Market Knowledge. Notice I said market knowledge instead of length of time in the business, the two are not mutually exclusive. There are unfortunately plenty of practitioners who have been in the business in the for years who have no clue what is going on in the market now. They can however tell you the latest gossip from the local coffee shop. My point is, market knowledge is about studying what the market is doing now and recent historical trends. Quiz your Realtor, for market statistics and choose based on who knows the market now, not then.

I'm often surprised at the number of buyers and sellers that are surprised at the fact that they can be fired by their Realtor. Oh yeah it can happen, that street does go both ways. Now keep in mind, Realtors are typically a very forgiving and tolerant lot. We will put up with quite a bit to get a sale, but even the most patient of us has our limits and when they are reached it becomes time to end the relationship. Sellers who refuse to keep the home clean, make the home available for showings, and not taking price drops to match the market (especially in the current economy) can have you soon find yourselves on the outs with your Realtor. Buyers not getting your pre-approvals, no shows for appointments, and not respecting boundaries(i.e. there is probably never a good reason to call your Realtor at 11p.m. unless you are negotiating a contract) can have you soon interviewing new Realtors. Now both buyers and sellers can get the pink slip for shear disrespectful treatment of their Realtor for sure. I have had the great pleasure of working with many buyers and sellers over the years who have been nothing but a joy, a few who were kind of tough, and the couple that I've had to let go were the exception not the rule.

Did you ever hear the saying the heart wants what the heart wants? It's a great saying, and so very true, sometimes. Unfortunately, selling your home has very little to do with what your heart wants and everything to do with what the market demands. You may want to sell your home for X amount of dollars but if the market is only justifying Y amount of dollars that is all you are going to get. Imagine if you bought stock in XYZ inc. at $100 a share and now you "wanted" to sell it for $150 a share, but the current stock market price per share was $125 a share. How many investors do you think would be lining up to purchase your stock?

You and your Realtor go see a home and you like it. Later that night your Realtor gives positive feedback to the listing Realtor and magically the listing agent has an offer coming in. Sound familiar? It's an old and not very bright trick. The listing agent is trying to get your Realtor to urge you to write an offer with the sudden appearance of this other "offer" out of fear of losing the home. My advice, if you weren't ready to write an offer before the appearance of this magic offer, you probably aren't ready now either.

Sellers, when you know your home is going to be shown, light it up. Open all the curtains or blinds. Turn on all the lights in your home and replace all the burnt out bulbs. When your house is on the market is not the time to be worrying about the electric bill. I know you're saying they can turn the lights on if they want to but, you'd be surprised how much difference there is in the buyers mind between a lighted home and a dark home. The same exact home, shown to the same buyer twice, once lighted and once dark will elicit a different reaction both times. I'm willing to bet the farm they liked the lighted version more. Sometimes a dark home, besides effecting the mood, can give the buyer the impression the seller is hiding something and praying the buyer won't find it if they don't draw attention to it.