Nick & Trudy Vandekar Realtors Main Line PA Homes for Sale Lic AB067198

A home for many people is their biggest investment or potential investment. So choosing the right person to list your home for sale is important. Where ever you are things have changed, especially with Main Line Philadelphia Real Estate. Here are 10 tips to bear in mind as you select the right agent to not only list your home but to sell your home.

1. The size of the broker is irrelevant! Yes, it is shocking but true. The internet has leveled the field not just for retail, travel and other industries but also in real estate. An agent from a small brokerage with specific skills on the Internet can achieve better results than an agent without those skills at a large brokerage. Also buyer agency means that any agent from any broker can sell your home and represent their buyers in the negotiation regardless of their affiliation.
2. The agent is more important than the brokerage. Rarely do I get anyone asking me about what my broker is going to do for them when I am on a listing appointment. But, my clients want to know, "What are YOU going to do for me?"
3. Consider the relationship you are going to have with this agent. Is it someone you can relate with, talk to, do you feel they listen and understand what you are saying. Do you feel they will go to bat for you if needed. Will they tell you the truth, even if you don't want to hear it. If they don't before you list, they won't afterwards.
4. How does this agent communicate, are they available? Do they answer their phone or will you be constantly leaving messages.
5. What is the agents marketing plan. Do they sound like everyone else? If so ditch them now. 93% of buyers are looking on-line, so forget about printed brochures and newspaper advertising, save some trees and focus on where people are looking.
6. Does the agent ask you questions about your home or is the presentation all about them?
7. How does the agent handle objections, avoid them or answer them?
8. What about the commission, do they explain to you your options regarding their commission and what will be offered to a buyer's agent or a transaction licensee.
9. Do they have contractors they recommend if needed for repairs.
10. Do they know what they are doing? What is their experience.
11. Are they experienced negotiators? Do they adopt a win-lose position or are they able to offer solutions to reach a third alternative win-win position for everyone?
12. How easily can you cancel the listing agreement? If the agent is any good, he will have an easy cancelation policy that is fair to both of you. Agents who sell homes don't have time to bicker over countless details of who did what wrong. It is much easier to move on and list the next property than force a client who is unhappy to stay in a listing agreement and end up in coutless arguements that achieve nothing for either party.

I gave you two bonus tips as I love to over deliver. If you are thinking of listing your Main Line Home for sale. give us a call and let us explain how we will get your home sold for you.

Several years ago, well 1988 to be exact buyers were allowed to have their own agent represent them in a real estate transaction. It seems amazing, a little like women being given the vote, or equal rights for all! But before this buyers were not represented, all agents in the transaction represented the seller. Regardless of what broker they worked for they were a sub-agent for the seller. So, even if you thought you were being represented you were not. Sort of like having one lawyer represent both parties in a divorce.

Today, many buyers want to remain un-represented as long as they can. They ignore all the benefits that a buyer agent can give them.

• Confidentiality of their motivations and finances,
• using their buyer agents local knowledge of home styles, neighborhoods, negotiation skills,
• customer service,
• lists of contractors, dentists and doctors, playgroups,
• educating buyers on the buying process in this particular area,
• relationships with other agents and how that will facilitate a transaction for a start.

This may be because many agents find it hard to differentiate themselves from each other. The buyer is unsure of where the loyalties of the buyer agent lie. It most often comes about because agents do not follow the law in sharing the Consumer Notice with buyers at a first meeting where any substantial discussion about real estate is talked about, and many agents do not ask buyers to sign a buyer agency contract. If they are willing to flout the law this early, how will they perform later in the transaction.

So the buyer sees little difference between them and allows multiple agents to know some if not all of their business. This weakens their negotiating position. Buyers allow listing agents to see their buyers playbook without even signing any paperwork that would restrict what this agent can tell the seller.

The buyers agent must work or act in the best interest of the buyer. That is logical, many buyers don't realize by dealing with the listing agent without representation the listing agent is working in the best interest of the seller.

The buyer agent must make an on-going and continuous effort in good faith to find the buyer a home. Just because they find you one they think is right does not mean they stop offering you homes, even when you write an agreement on a home they should be making you aware of any homes that might be of interest. Although you might be subject to an existing contract a good agent will keep you informed just in case something crops up with this property under contract that causes the deal to fall apart. The listing agent for a property that interests you has no interest in telling you about other properties and only wants you in this deal.

A buyers agent must keep all your information confidential. If you are unrepresented and use the listing agent, anything you disclose to the listing agent can and should be revealed by them to their seller if it helps the sellers position.

So how has buyer agency changed real estate?

Today, it does not matter which broker lists a home for sale, because all brokers put their listings in the Multiple Listing Service(MLS) advertising to buyer agents what compensation they are offering. So regardless of how big or small the brokerage is, your home will be seen and marketed to buyers by all buyer agents in every company because they are working for the best interests of their buyers.

Because of this, every listing agent wants every buyers agent to know about their listings. It does not matter who sells the property because the buyer's agent has responsibility to their buyer not to the listing agent's seller. Buyer's agents inform their buyers of every new listing coming on the market, good agents both listing and buyer agents develop relationships with other agents in other brokerages so they know what listings are about to come to market so their clients can gain any advantage by this information and do a little research as well.

Also the big brokerages don't want agents in other companies, whom they do not supervise to be acting as a sub-agent to the seller. Why not? Because they can held liable for any errors made by the sub-agent. How is buyer agency going to keep changing.

As mentioned above today, sellers are still compensating the buyer agent out of the transaction. Whilst it is funded by the buyer, many feel that buyers should be paying their own representative. Would you want your attorney to be paid by the other side, it might just make you consider where their loyalties lie? So a natural progression, will be the payment of buyer agency commissions by the buyer rather than the seller, this can still be incorporated into the mortgage once banks accept this new paradigm but it may still be some years away for now.

Wine has been a feature within societies for thousands of years, just recently they salvaged some champagne bottles off the ocean floor that were on their way to Rusiia in the 17th century and they were able to work out from which vineyard they had come.

Well that fascination with wine from society to society can be seen in a new exhibit at Winterthur Museum. A recent article in County Lines examines all the features of the exhibit and what will be covered.

It opens April 28 and you can easily plan a visit to Winterthur, tour the grounds and even stop nearby at one of the fabulous restaurants in the area for lunch or dinner with a glass of wine of course.

People often ask what makes one township more desiarable than another, and to frankly everyone is looking for something different. Wayne is a town loved by many along the Main Line because of its victorian homes, walkability, small town feel, easy access to Philadelphia, and the choice of coffee shops, restaurants, bars and chich and stylish shopping available all within walking distance. Check out this short video of downtown Wayne in Radnor Township and let us know what you think.

Every buyer along the Main Line has a list of what they want from a home. Regardless of price point. The $150,000 one bedroom condo buyer and the multi-million dollar single family luxury home buyer. Many things on those lists actually are similar, just different scales. But every buyer also has a list of things they are willing to compromise on when they buy a home.

The want list you put together is very logical. What you buy is very emotional. Many buyers walk into a house and just know this is the one! Then they qualify it logically, ticking off what points on their wants list it meets.

Nearly, I want to say every, buyer makes compromises because of the emotion. They give something up that was a must because the emotion says this is the house. Maybe it is the energy in the house, the light streaming through the windows, the neighborhood, the kids playing in the yard next door, or the park within walking distance. But suddenly the attached garage is not a requirement, or whatever it is on the logical want list you may have to give up.

Don't be afraid of change. Even buyers of multi-million dollar homes make changes ater they purchase, maybe more often than other buyers. But buyers always feel that if they could spend some more money they would find what they want. It just is not true. Every home has things you will need to compromise on, no home is perfect, ever. A little paint can make amazing changes to a home.

Spring seems to be upon us and we are noticing more buyers willing to make decisions, so go ahead, start looking and get ready to make a compromise when you find the right one, even if it is just a little compromise, you most likely will be glad you did.