Oliver Reports Massachusetts
The reliable, informed source for Marblehead and North Shore real estate news
Menu
  • About Me
  • Weekly Newsletters
  • Mortgage Rates and Economic Commentary
  • Property Taxes
  • About Marblehead
  • Market Reports
    • 2024 Market Reports
    • 2023 Market Reports
    • 2022 Market Reports
    • 2021 Market Reports
    • Marblehead
    • Swampscott
    • Beverly
    • Salem
    • Essex County
  • Boston
  • Massachusetts
  • The Luxury Market
  • Flood insurance

Which broker should I choose to sell my house?

February 15, 2017 · by Andrew Oliver · in Latest News, Market Reports

You’ve decided to sell your house. The big question is: which broker should you hire to sell it? And how do you make that decision? I find that possibly the least understood aspect of home buying and selling is the mechanism by which a house is actually sold.

Who actually produces the buyers for houses?
The table below shows the percentage of a firm’s or office’s listings that are sold by an agent in that office: NOT the percentage sold by the individual listing the property, but the percentage sold by any other agent in the same office or firm.

The numbers are for 2016 for 4 local towns plus Essex County and whole of Massachusetts , for the top 10 offices or firms in each market (the top 6 in Marblehead). Offices, the first table, means each individual office: so firm A may have several offices in the region but this number is for each individual office. The second table is for all a firm’s offices in the region.

Market share

Source: MLS, Oliver Reports

One of my jobs is to look at statistics and decide if they are significant or not. What strikes me about the numbers in this table is their consistency:  both individual offices and firms sell roughly 1 in 4 of the houses they list for sale. Which means that some 3 out of every 4 houses are sold, not only not by the individual listing agent, but not by any of the other 20 or 30 or however many agents in her firm!

Does market share matter?
Not obviously. Each city or town has its combination of chains and local brokers. The bigger the area surveyed – as in Essex County – naturally the larger the market share of the firms with multiple offices will be. But the increase in the percentage of listings sold is very modest. As a numbers man I would have to say that I see no evidence that market share is a determining factor in who actually finds the buyer of a house for sale.

So how should you decide who should sell your house?
I was shocked when I first came across these numbers  while preparing a presentation to a potential seller. They made me rethink the reasons for choosing a broker. My belief now is that, while there are several factors that go into the decision, the most important factors are the ability to develop a strategic partnership between the seller and the listing broker, the marketing plan presented by that broker, price and presentation.

What should be in the marketing plan?
Putting the listing in MLS and holding Open Houses is not a marketing plan. It is the old way of doing business.
Today, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), over 90% of buyers use the internet in some way during their search and more than 50% use a mobile website or app. Where appropriate, you should expect your broker to have an online presence (including a website exclusively for your home), and a plan for using social media advertising.
Photographs matter! The days of a broker showing up with his own camera, and snapping photos with the lights off or curtains drawn are long gone. You need professional high-resolution photos. At Harborside Sotheby’s our photos have to go through Sotheby’s quality control department.
Other things to look for include floor plans (which can be interactive with photos embedded), a video, which can be narrated, and a professionally produced glossy brochure.
All these things, of course, cost money, but remember that the listing agent is normally getting a commission of 2 1/2% of the sale price. Shouldn’t she be willing to spend a reasonable amount on marketing your house professionally and thoroughly?

My friend from church/synagogue/yacht club/ yoga is a broker: I feel I ought to give her the listing
Ah, the “ought to’s”. How much of our life is driven by ought to’s?
This is often the hardest issue for a seller to face. According to the NAR,  72% of sellers contacted only one broker before listing their home. One solution is to say to that friend: “I would like you to make a presentation to me to sell my home. Just to let you know, my financial advisor/accountant/spouse has recommended that I get presentations from 3 brokers so I am doing that.”
You may still select your friend, but you will have an out if you decide to choose somebody else. And trust me, every agent has stories of listings they expected to get but didn’t. That’s the nature of a business where there are so many agents. And if you do list with your friend, you will know that you are doing so for business as well as personal reasons.

Who should be targeted by the marketing plan?
The ultimate buyer of the house, right? Well yes, but at least as important, if not more so, are agents of other firms, because they are the most likely source of the buyer for your house.  You should ask the agents you interview about their plans for marketing your house to agents of other firms.

Should I list with the broker who suggests the highest price?
It is human nature to want to believe that your house is worth the highest possible price, so it is very tempting to go with the agent who quotes the highest price. And it is not unknown for that one buyer to come along and pay that price. But the chances are greater that a high price will put off buyers.
If other agents think the price is too high they are less likely to call their buyers to go and look at the house.

You are the customer
Most of us when we are considering a significant purchase do some reasonably thorough research of the product and alternatives. We might look at several different cars or TVs, read online reviews (from a trusted source such as Consumer Reports), ask friends – and then make an informed decision. Yet 72% of us do not apparently follow the same approach when it comes to selling what is for most of us our biggest asset.

The number one goal of Oliver Reports is to make you an informed buyer or seller of real estate. I hope this article helps you to make an informed decision when you decide to sell your house.

And if you would like me to be one of the 3 brokers you ask to discuss the sale of your home I should be delighted to meet with you.

Here are examples of the way I have presented homes to the market:
46 Gallison Avenue
59 Washington Street
11 Crown Way

 

Andrew Oliver

Please contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected]. for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer.
If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.

Links

  • Simplifying the Market

Recent Comments

  • May Inventory shows no improvement - Oliver Reports Massachusetts on “Party on, dude” says the Federal Reserve
  • April Inventory shows little improvement - Oliver Reports Massachusetts on “Party on, dude” says the Federal Reserve
  • March Inventory shows no improvement - Oliver Reports Massachusetts on “Party on, dude” says the Federal Reserve
  • February Inventory as low as this weekend's temperature - Oliver Reports Massachusetts on “Party on, dude” says the Federal Reserve
  • November Inventory stays high - Oliver Reports Massachusetts on “Party on, dude” says the Federal Reserve

SEARCH_MLS Listings

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 786 other subscribers

Worth Reading

Which broker should I hire to sell my house?

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024

Categories

  • Beverly Housing Market
  • Boston
  • Boston housing market
  • By The Numbers Posts
  • Essex County Housing News
  • Florida real estate
  • Home maintenenance
  • Housing Inventory
  • Latest News
  • Life Style
  • Luxury Property
  • Lynn Housing Market
  • Marblehead News
  • Market Reports
  • Massachusetts Housing News
  • Mortgage and Finance News
  • National News
  • New Listings
  • North Shore housing market
  • Open Houses
  • Property taxes
  • Salem housing market
  • Swampscott Housing Market

Copyright © 2025 Oliver Reports Massachusetts

Powered by WordPress and Ascetica