PODCAST 019 - QUESTIONS TO ASK PART 3 - ANGIE COLE.mp3

It's time for The Savvy Realtor podcast. I'm Walter Storholt alongside Angie Cole the owner and broker in charge of A Cole Realty serving you throughout the Triangle teaching you about the ins and outs when it comes to buying or selling a home. You can find the team online by going to A Cole realty dot com. That's A Cole Realty dot com or by calling (919) 538-6477. and now it's time for one of the top realtors in the Triangle. Angie Cole and The Savvy Realtor podcast. All right Angie I think it's you know we talked about this a few weeks ago really important to choose wisely when you're looking for that real estate agent you want to make sure the agent is qualified. You also want to make sure you're a good fit for one another.

So we're continuing our sort of series that we've spread out over the last month or so about interviewing your real estate agents some of the great questions that you can pose to an agent to find out if there'll be a great fit for you. I think another great question to ask and this is definitely a good one is do you have any references you can provide agents should pretty much have those like ready to go right.

Sure. I mean I think that's a great question to ask. What I would do is maybe dig deeper beyond that though just like if someone was interviewing for a job I know they tell us or does some coaching advice I've received is to dig deeper go three deep meaning of course the candidate that you're interviewing is going to give you only the best reference. Right. Right. So go deeper you know ask that reference if they know of someone that's worked with the real estate agent you know and dig deeper and dig deeper. More will come about as far as previous transactions that that agent has had with other clients because once again the first reference that is given is simply going to be amazing. I mean why would you know that reference ever say anything bad if they were asked to give a reference right. So yes our team we have a lot of past clients I would love to give happy references but I would really say to dig deeper beyond that you know I would also go online and look at testimonials on lines you know a lot of times when someone's had a bad experience they take the time to write it online or don't they. You know I've had some experiences where clients have stated they do not want to build with a particular builder because they read the reviews online. Well because of course you know and it's unfortunate but a lot of clients will go online only to write something if it's a bad experience and not a positive experience. But for example if you go on to Zillow and you look up Angi coal a coal realty you will see that we have over 200 plus five star reviews now and so that goes to show you that you know yeah we can't please everyone you know no one can ever please everyone but ninety nine point nine percent of the people that we work with are super happy with our experience.

Yeah that's pretty neat to see that you know knowing how the overreaction is typically on the negative side that's where people just really will start you know blasting somebody online. Well unfortunately so to accumulate more than 200 five star reviews is pretty impressive. And pretty cool and I know something that you guys are really proud about. And you can read those reviews of Andrii online by going to Zillow dot com to search Angie's name and boom right there you can read all of those different reviews. And they're not just like good experience. Now let people get detailed about like what they liked about the process what are the challenges they had were how they were overcome their media reviews which is kind of nice.

Yeah. And I would you know if you decide to call references I would you know have a list of questions that are important to you. You know think about what is most important about either you're buying or you're selling experience. You know that you want to make sure is fulfilled. So make sure that you ask direct questions too. You know that previous client that you're reaching out to other than just well how is your experience. Because of course they'll just say good you know. Great. So you know. Communication is very important to you. If the marketing end is very important to you make sure getting specific with the questions to really dig deep.

It's a great question and is really important to ask these kinds of things to an agent that you might interview I think another one here and that we should throw out is what will it cost me to sell this property. And I guess if you don't get a clear answer on that question that would be a big red flag right.

Yeah of course. Because I mean most sellers you know what's most important to them is what their bottom net will be. Right. Well so much focus is just on the price of drive so.

And that's something that you're right. CELAC is so hung up on well what can you sell my home for you know but it's important that you know if I sell your home at 250000 you know and I charge X percent you know commission but then I'd say you're home at two hundred seventy five thousand. But now my commission rate just went up an additional 5 percent. Well that's a big difference in your bottom net. So you know make sure that the agent that you're interviewing is providing you with a net proceeds sheet. You don't know how many times I've been on a listening presentation and I've been up against another agent in our market and I go to show them our proceed sheet at the very end of our conversation. They're like wow I didn't know that I had to pay tax revenue stamps. Wow. I had no idea that I might need to pay a transfer fee. Wow. I had no idea that I might need to pay for a termite inspection. If it's a VA loan you know there's so many mis discussions that I see that you know sellers have with agents that they're interviewing and those items are really important because getting you know you you approach closing all of a sudden you are in the negative by a couple thousand. You know then what you are expecting to make and that's a big deal so make sure that the agent is really giving you a breakdown of selling costs of all the costs you will incur to sell your home.

That's really important because if an agent basically just kind of shows you that break down or not even break down that's overstating it but just sort of price of the home minus commission and that's it's going to look like a pretty rosy picture. Yeah compared to the realistic view of what you have these costs these fees are all going to be thrown into it. Sure.

Let's attack it on the front end and not have it be kind of a hidden thing that comes in at the end is actually just like a buyer when they close on a home buyer closing costs. You know there's a lot that's included lender fees attorney fees you know probations escrows you know same thing on the seller side. You know you have a seller Doc prep feel you know like I said the tax revenue stamps you have your prorated taxes maybe Proetta Away's you know Ajoy transfer fee so there's more that comes about with selling your home. Other than just this is your sales price and this is the commission right.

So the keyword there is net proceeds net proceeds.

Yes most definitely.

Another great question to ask you a potential real estate agent how will you communicate with us. I think that's really important because there's so many different expectations and levels of communication.

And I think the key word there like you just said is expectation now. And that's something that when I'm sitting in front of a potential client or seller you know I tell them what I plan to do. But I need to also understand what what their expectation of me. So for example you know with our team we're big on giving you know weekly updates. You know even if there's no update to give less still give an update. But you know what. If that's not good enough for the seller we need to know that because we will be dropping the ball although we think we're doing great on our end by given our weekly update. If the seller expects more than we need to give them or you know on the flip side if they don't want to update that often if we start to be a hinderance and we just started to get annoying with all of our updates we want to know that too. So what are the expectations. Also you know do they prefer a phone call. Do they prefer email for text messaging. So what is you know understood type of communication that will be brought about. Are they wanting a weekly market update.

So there's just you can really dig deep into that. So really understanding that communication throughout the process. Also if you knew who will be the main point of contact will be the agent you're meeting with or will it be their team. You know our team is a team meaning you will work with different agents throughout the process of the transaction but the great thing about that is you know I'm busy. So if you're always waiting on me to again update I'm going to be delayed on those updates. You know if you're always waiting on me to you know get the signage out there that photography ordered all that good stuff it won't get done in a timely manner. So it's great that we are like a well oiled machine where we have individuals that are helping out throughout the process. But again that's setting expectations so we have the discussion upfront that hey when you go to contract close you'll be working directly with our closing coordinator. Although I can still be your first main point of contact. They handle things on the backend so just understand who you'll be working with throughout the process as well.

Have you had anybody request that you communicate with them via smoke signals yet all the time.

Yeah we've got a fax got a burn barrel out back where we staff the purple the purple. Right. Right. In that situation.

All right. Two more questions for you about interviewing agent and these may be quick. It's more actually I think I have a question for you. Are these important questions to ask. I think all the previous ones were important to ask. I'm curious if these are as important what about designations some industries you're kind of looking for what's on the back end of the somebodies name you know like that doctors or financial professionals are you a CFP are those kinds of things. What about real estate designations are they that important.

I mean I know maybe the real estate commission might get upset that I'm saying this but I think it's comical to be honest with you. I feel like back in the day that was a biggie. It was whoever had almost the longest name with all of these designations must be the best agent in the area. But I've often have seen where you know I see an individual agent that has five designations and they sell two homes a year you know so it's just like any type of profession. You go and you sit in those classes. But until you are hands on I would not say that you are the expert in that field learn learn learn all day but you need to be actually in the field doing the work. And so same thing with a real estate agent. You know I could sit in class and get you know 20 different designations right.

But some of these can't they just be earned in like one weekend. So they really are just like that.

Oh yeah a class. I mean it's not like something you go through for years on end. You know the same thing goes with getting a real estate license. It's amazing. You know you get your real estate license and then you step out to the real world. You don't even know how to pull comparables. You don't even know how to write a contract. You know I always joke that the real estate classes to keep me out of real estate. Jail you know but it is not really teaching you how to practice. Same thing with the designations. You know yeah they're great. But I would start asking further questions as far as OK what are your unit sales what is your volume to see how active that potential agent is within our market focus on some of these other things definitely.

One last real quick question is this a good question to ask as well to an agent in what neighborhoods do you primarily work.

You know I feel like that's getting very specific and particular for the Triangle market. You know if you worked in you know in New York in the city you know I bet those ages no every single street. Every single development happening because they cover not even a quarter mile radius. I mean they're just centralized. They're really focused in on that specific niche in our market. You know we go about an hour radius now should I be familiar you know with areas should I know information for sure but I could tell you right now if you mention heritage of Wake Forest I do not know every single street within that neighborhood. Now should I know of that neighborhood. Of course because it's a well-known huge neighborhood in Wake Forest. But will I know every single specific detail about it. No. I think that's been a little unrealistic for a seller or for a buyer client to expect that of an agent in our market just because we do help a bass you know range of style of homes and locations.

It seems to me like if someone's presenting themselves as like Hey I'm the expert on this neighborhood it's not so much a competitive advantage as that's their marketing approach.

So good way to look you know they might be the expert aboard that took her neighborhood probably because they live in there or they really have just sold a lot of lot of them so maybe they are the true expert of that neighborhood. But beyond that one neighborhood they're probably not an expert at many others you know. And if their business is only concentrating on that one neighborhood they're probably not doing that many sales either because there's not been so many homes to sell you know within probably that specific neighborhood. So yeah you know I do feel like every agent is probably more I guess well versed in a specific area but you know just because I know maybe just one neighborhood better than another doesn't mean that I still can't sell the other neighborhood because it really boils down to you know the marketing efforts you know what's being done to market the home to get buyers into your home not knowing what street is what. And so if you are thinking about selling your home and you want to get an idea of what your home is worth in today's market it's always a great way to start off because you know what's most important normally is hey what's going to be my bottom net when it's all said and done. But to get an idea of what your home would go for in today's market go ahead and text the word listing to that phone number. 5 5 5 8 8 8. So on your smartphone just text the word listing to that phone number. 5 5 5 8 8 8. And make sure you don't stop there because we will send you back a tax with the link. Make sure that you click the link and you need to input your address. Otherwise of course we can't give you an idea of what your home would be worth in today's market. So go ahead and again text the word listing to that phone number. 5 5 5 8 8 8.

If you're thinking about selling any time in the near future it's a great first step to take. All you have to do is send that text. The word is listing put that in the message and send it to the number 5 5 5 8 8 8. What will happen is you'll get that text right back from us with a link that you click on put in your home's information and you'll get that estimate on your home value. If you were to sell in today's market the potential value of your home. It's a great first step. Great first estimate to get to kind of start the process and get the ball rolling and just inform you right. Information is power. It's good information to have to see. What would the home potentially sell for in today's market if we were to list it today. It's a great question to get answered and you can do it right from your smartphone.

Again by texting the word listing to 5 5 5 8 8 8.

If you're not a texter and you just want to call and you can talk to her over the phone about your situation. The number to dial was 9 1 9 5 7 8 3 1 2 8 9 1 9 5 7 8 31 28.

More coming up. This is the staff who will tour with Angie Cole

Let's shine a little light on some of the Triangle's best areas right here on the neighborhood spotlight.

It's the neighborhood spotlight on the savvy real tour we feature a great nook and cranny of the triangle and tell you a bit about a particular neighborhood. All the neat things that you need to know about it.

We turn to one of the Triangle's experts when it comes to real estate here in the Triangle. Angie Cole of a cold realty.

Andrea what's this week's featured neighborhood said this week's feature neighborhood. I thought I would go ahead and talk a little bit more about our feature listing of the week which is located in the maners at old lead mine. So our featured neighborhood spotlight is the maners at old lead mine which is right off of old Lead Mine Road in north Raleigh. So easy enough as far as realizing where is located. This is a brand new neighborhood. They started building in 2016. They have just a few lots of bailable so still actively building in this neighborhood. This whole neighborhood is built by Pulte Homes. They are a wonderful national builder and they have amazing options and upgrades and just quality homes as well. The square footage they range anywhere from about 23 hundred up to 38 100 square feet price point is starts in the four 80s all the way up to the 7 hundreds. All of the homes have a two car garage and they are all of the main living area as far as like a ranch plans where the master bedroom and additional bedrooms are on the main floor. Some homes also have a bonus right maybe on a second floor but more of a one floor living is great in this neighborhood too because the way covers the landscaping.

So it's a low maintenance neighborhood. That's how the homes look so nice sounds. Yes there are a well maintained by the way. You don't have that one neighbor who is an upkeep in their lot. Just as nice as the others. Yes so you get the low maintenance you get the one floor living and it is a brand new neighborhood so it's great when you buy a brand new home because you get all of the wonderful builder warranties that go along with that. But if you are thinking about maybe moving into this neighborhood or maybe you're thinking about selling you've been in this neighborhood for a few years and you're thinking about resale. Feel free to reach out to us to understand the value of your home or to ask some more questions you can give us a call at 9 1 9 5 7 8 3 1 2 8. So once again our neighborhood spotlight is the maners at old lead mine and we would definitely love to answer any questions you might have about this specific community.

Am I right that saying that there's like there's it's own little park in the mentors and old lead mine. Or is that just a piece of property that has like a whole bunch of land.

Yeah. So it's more of like a pocket park. It's that there are some walking trails going around the neighborhood as well. Yeah. Cute cute area.

Yeah it's a great spot too. I mean you've just got so many restaurants and places to go and all your shopping there at 6 forks and strict land that area's just you know very popular and are a really cool area to be in.

Right. You're exactly right. You're right in between. Yes six Forks Road and then also lead mine. Creekmore area. So in North Raleigh you know within minutes of Crabtree Valley Mall so it's a centralized location for sure.

We're not too far. That's probably our most popular. You know we just recently moved to Raleigh that's probably our most popular spot to go to and just it's near a shopping center to where we are. Yeah just on the north side of 40 but off of Six Forks and we were there for like a whole two months before we realized that there was a whole foods and and all that. It's kind of hidden off to the corner there so we'd been driving past this whole time and all of sudden we noodled back there when they were a little Wholefoods right here at 6 sporks and Strickland right there the intersection.

Yeah there's everything there's a PetSmart there Starbucks there's a Lowes and then on the opposite side like you mentioned the whole foods and then a whole nother little shopping center of nails and everything you need.

They packed a lot right into that they started. We'd been blown by the whole that for two whole months it was their SO PRETTY COOL. All right. So if you want more information on this neighborhood or if you're in that neighborhood or anywhere else in the Triangle are thinking about settling in the near future. We do encourage you to reach out to Angie Cole and the team at a coal realty to talk about your buying or selling situation they can help you walk through that process and make sure that you get top dollar for your home or that you find the right home for your situation.

9 1 9 5 7 8 31 28 is the number to call. That's 9 1 9 5 7 8. 3 1 2 8. Stay right there. That's the neighborhood spotlight and this is the savvy real corner with

It's time for the mailbag. We want to hear from you.

Schuyler says I think we're just going to sell our home on our own. But my husband is nervous we might not be thinking this through. Can you tell us any horror stories of people who have done for sale by owners before. What's the success rate for most FSB shows.

Yes Guyler that's a great great question. We have I heard of a situation just recently where a for sale by owner said the seller accepted an offer on their home and come to find out if the prequel letter was for a USDA loan only. And the sellers home does not fall on the USDA area. So a waste of everyone's time. And you know that's just where if that for sale by owner had an agent vetting the contracts and the prequel letters they would have known that. You know that's great this person wants to buy your home. But they're really not truly qualified to buy it. So it's important to really understand the market and all of the details the contract paperwork you know to make sure that you can make it to closing in the first place. You know as far as success rate you know to me it's not so much. OK how many are for sale by owner homes. Actually close but are they truly good and top dollar. And so I would say probably about. Don't hold me to this probably about 85 percent are for sale by owner homes do close.

But the problem is is they're not getting top dollar when it comes to closing and the reason being is when you are for sale by owner you are not reaching all the different marketing avenues to drive them as traffic to your home. And you know there is a direct correlation between your sales price and the traffic coming in the door. So the more marketing an agent does for you the more showings they get the quicker they'll get an offer and then they'll get a highest price point for you. So you know with a For Sale By Owner you know it can be really iffy. And there's been many situations and I hear even on my team where they have a client who wants to see a bow and the agents are like oh man. And it's not that they went and receive commission. It's they know that they will have to do all the work for the pretty much the seller too. It almost seems like because the seller the bow is just completely clueless when it comes to a real estate transaction and it's almost like handholding them as well.

I mean within reason because of course we're representing our client but I know when we were buying we pretty much shunned for sale by only shied away from it. Yeah because we just like to come with a lot of headaches and it was so much like our real tour is going to have to work harder for it. It was just more like we wanted to be a sure thing. We want it.

We want to kind of play within the rules and we just it just seemed like it would be an uncomfortable and long process if we went that route. So unless it was a whopper of a great deal we just really were not worth the time and energy invested in it.

And a lot of times you know the mindset will be well if they're doing a For Sale By Owner physio you know they are doing that to save money so they're probably tighter on money. So then once we go into contract and we started negotiating repairs are they going to be reasonable. Also having an agent that's kind of the middle person is always great and important too because when it comes to buying or selling a home it's very emotional you know. And so emotions can get in the way. So when there's another agent a listing agent that is you know educating their seller on the process on just you know things throughout the transaction it really helps a whole negotiation process. It really just helps you know from contract to close as well so working directly with the physio can be really really difficult.

I know it's there probably aren't stats out there that exist to back up this claim because they're all private sales right. But I would imagine that for sale by owners also take longer.

Oh yeah percent. I mean because once again I mean there's a direct correlation with sales price versus traffic you're getting in your door. So if you're not able to reach all those different marketing avenues that an agent could do for you. And not every agent does all those marking avenues but the top real estate agents who do the top marketing you know they're getting people in the door a lot quicker are potential buyers and so days on the market will be lower to where with a For Sale By Owner. You know days in the market will definitely be longer. I mean there's no doubt about it. And so if you are considering a physio if you're thinking about selling your home on your own take the step in a lease sit down with us for a listing presentation. You know there is no obligation with doing it. But just listen to what we have to say to really truly understand what all we would do for you when representing you. Because even though you are paying you know a commission to us to represent you we always will make you more money than what you would have made on your own if you did a For Sale By Owner so. But if you are thinking about selling your home and you want to get started by just understanding what your home is worth in today's market you can go ahead and on your smartphone. You can send us a text so you can text the word listing to the phone number 5 5 5 8 8 8 and from there we will send you a tax. Make sure that you do click the link and input your address and from there again we can give you an idea of what your home is worth. So if you're thinking about selling your home a great way to get started is by texting the word listing to the phone number. 5 5 5 8 8.

You've been listening to the savvy real tour podcast on Wolterstorff alongside Angie Cole. She's the owner and broker in charge of a call realty here in the Triangle and if you have questions for Angie we'd like you to go online to a coal realty dot com listen to past podcast episodes on the website. Read the blog and all the great information including the option to find a home right there on the Web site. That's a coal realty dot com and you can also call Angie with your questions 9 1 9 5 7 8 31 28.

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