1. 11 Questions
A Seller Must Ask Prior to Listing
By: Don and Kathy Vallee
Selling your Park City home is probably (hands down) one of the largest and
most important financial transactions you’ll ever be involved in. Going it alone is
never advised when it comes to a home sale as there are just too many moving
pieces for a seller to be able to effectively navigate them while protecting their
own interests.
Even more dangerous than going it alone would be to choose
the wrong agent to list your home. An average agent will
promise you the moon, the stars, and a couple extra galaxies to
gain your business. Once you sign on the dotted line, however,
they’ll give you a jar full of rocks. Here are a 9 great questions
to ask a potential listing agent to avoid the stress that comes
with lugging that “jar” around.

2. 11 Questions A Seller Must Ask Prior to Listing
435.565.0797 | info@parkcityhomesandland.com
1 How long have you been selling real
estate full-time?
[This will give you a clear and well-defined idea of
how dedicated the agent is to selling homes. You
probably should consider steering clear of part-time
agents unless you like part-time results. You can dig
even deeper and get more intel on how long they’ve
been selling Park City real estate, specifically.]
2 How many Park City homes have you
closed in the last 12 months?
[The answer to this question will indicate the success
of the agent to get homes sold and the effectiveness
of their marketing plan. This is where you sink your
teeth in.]
3 Do you keep track of buyers using new
age digital technology?
[This is an extremely important question. A room
full of filing cabinets may have worked in the 1980’s,
but, so did lots of hair spray and bad makeup. In
today’s market you have to have the technology
to find, attract, track, and follow up with potential
buyers. Sales are often lost because of no tracking
or follow-up so the buyer loses interest.]
4 What referral networks
do you use for out-of-area
buyers?
[Not every potential buyer lives in
Park City currently. There’s always
a huge market for those looking
to relocate and the listing agent
needs to have the connections and
marketing to access those resources.
Otherwise, there’s a huge part of
the potential pie that has no idea
your home is for sale.]choose new
carpeting or glossy hardwood be
sure it fits the decor.
5 Are you a solo agent? Do
you share personnel?
[A very simple question, yet,
probably the most important. A
real estate transaction is a massive
undertaking with several steps that
have to be attended to individually.
A solo agent or someone that
shares personnel can’t provide you
the laser-focus on each area that a
dedicated team of specialists can.
This can lead to longer list times and
missed sales.
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3. 11 Questions A Seller Must Ask Prior to Listing
435.565.0797 | info@parkcityhomesandland.com
6 Make Space in Your HomeDo you have
full-time showing partners that can
show my home at the drop of a dime?
[Home viewings happen when the buyer wants
them to. Potential buyers have very tight schedules
as well so they may not be able to provide timely
notice that they’re interested, but, the important
thing is THEY’RE INTERESTED. Make sure the listing
agent has a specialist in place that can show your
home at a moment’s notice. Once you have a buyer’s
interest you have to reel them in quickly before your
neighbors do.]visually open it up quite a bit.
7 Do you provide feedback received
from buyers who viewed our home?
[Now that the buyer has shown interest and a
viewing has been scheduled, something is still
missing in the equation. Have YOU been notified of
the viewing and subsequent feedback? This way you
can make any changes the buyer is requesting or
simply answer questions they may have. This starts
the dialog and hopefully negotiations soon follow.]
8 Does your listing agreement have an
“easy exit” feature?
[In the event you’re not satisfied or you feel
like you’ve been sold the proverbial jar of rocks
mentioned earlier, you’ll want the peace of mind
knowing you can get out of that dungeon. An agent
that prides themselves on delivering on promises will
have no problem with giving you an exit clause as
they’re confident you won’t ever need to exercise it.]
9 Do you also provide inte-
rior pictures, virtual tours,
brochures and floor plans
to buyers?
[The average agent will stick a sign
in the yard, take a few exterior picks,
and assume that’s going to sell the
home. Today’s buyers have a wealth
of information at their fingertips and
shortchanging them like this makes
them skeptical that you may be
hiding something. The listing agent
should have a formal staging plan for
viewing and a robust picture/video/
information plan for each area of the
home inside and out. The more,
the better.]
10 Do you prospect daily
for buyers? Using
what methods?
[The sit and wait approach works
for some things, but, selling a home
in Park City is not one of them.
The listing agent needs to include
in the marketing plan a function to
aggressively seek out buyers that
have needs matching what your
home provides. ]
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4. 11 Questions A Seller Must Ask Prior to Listing
435.565.0797 | info@parkcityhomesandland.com
11 Do you have references?
[Well, do they? Any agent worth their name has not
only conducted reputable business up to this point,
but, they also have clients (past and present) that
can provide testimony to their efforts and successes.
A listing agent that can’t provide references is
basically holding up an LED sign that says “run away
as fast as you can”.]
To Protect and Serve Park City Sellers
Remember this is an interview for a hiring. Don’t be
afraid to get “behind the smile” of the agent and
really dig in. Not doing so can potentially cost you
thousands of dollars and some pretty severe stress
headaches. My name is Kathy Vallee and I have the
experience and team to make sure your home is sold
fast and for more profit. Contact me when you’re
ready for your free home evaluation or to list your
property and challenge me to prove it.
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