What questions to ask a real estate sales agent during selection process.

The real estate sales agent environment has become extremely competitive and complex, it involves various formats to choose from. From your traditional full service agent to your 3% sales commission internet format. Below are a few questions to ask.

1) What percent of your company's listings have sold in the last 6 months? Home sellers will want to work with sales associates with high percentage of completed home sales transactions within your local market.

2) Ask about the average amount of time it took to sell their listed homes? Compare the marketing times between real estate agents / company will provide the consumer with an indication of how well that company and sales associate sells / market thier homes.

3) What was the average sales price? Look for a figure that is close to what you would like to receive for your home.

4) Their company's list-price to sale-price ratio? Significant differences between original listing prices and ultimate sale prices can be an indication that the list prices quoted at the outset were unrealistic.

Selling an Overpriced Home

Overpricing is the number one mistake home sellers said they made when listing their homes, according to a new national e-mail survey conducted by HouseHunnt, Inc. The margin was nearly three-to-one over the second choice.

Survey respondents said their next biggest mistake was “dealing with the same real estate agent who represented the buyer,” thereby setting up a possible conflict of interest and possibly a perception that the buyer was getting a better deal.

Third biggest mistake was “failure to disclose known defects or problems.” Virtually tied for fourth place were: “under pricing their properties” and “not utilizing Internet technology to market their properties.”

What to do in order to sell your home as quickly

Price It Right. A home priced too high may turn off many potential buyers, especially with so many other homes on the market.

Clean The House. Few things turn off interested buyers more than cluttered rooms, soiled floors and messy kitchens. Keep rooms open and clean.

Paint The House. Scuffed walls and messy paint jobs are bad. Hire a professional.

Update It. Fix / Repair damaged carpets, cracked tile and scuffed hardwood floors. Be flexible. Adjust your schedule, if necessary, to accommodate requests for showings. You don't want to lose out to another seller down the street.

New Real Estate Points

Rising mortgage rates, surge in home listings, slow home sales in some areas are changing the ways in which buyers and sellers approach the housing market.

Real estate practitioners are placing a great deal of emphasis on pricing, with buyers who use the Web to conduct home searches steering clear of properties that appear to be overpriced.

Sellers also are urged to undertake repairs to attract buyers at a time when they have plenty of homes to choose from and plenty of time to make purchase decisions.

First-time buyers are encouraged to stay within their budgets because slower home-price appreciation means that there will not be a great deal of equity to bail them out in the event of a financial crisis.