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What should you pay your New Jersey real estate agent?|

Should You Pay Your NJ Realtor More Or Less? 10 evaluation criteria

The short answer to the question of what you should pay your realtor is: “It depends”. Is there a reason to pay New Jersey real estate agents well and what should this pay be is a very reasonable question to ask. In this article I give you 10 criteria of service to help answer this question.

There are some New Jersey real estate home buyers and sellers, including those in the Princeton area, who believe agents provide little value and should be payed very little. I respect everyone’s opinion , but have to respectfully disagree (even if it sounds a bit self serving). What you pay your realtor should be related to the level of service they provide. There are 10 service criteria you could use when evaluating Princeton area real estate agensts’ service(others as well). These criteria could could be summed up in three words: Ritz Carlton service.

What do I mean by Ritz Carlton treatment and how does it relate to Princeton real estate? If you ever stayed at Ritz Carlton you know it is very expensive. Recently I had several very important family celebrations. Not wanting to take chances of things not being 100% perfect, I arranged to stay at the Ritz in New York. Yes, it was very expensive, but at the end it was worth every penny.

Here are the 10 ways Ritz service is special. If you would like to receive this quality service when buying or selling Princeton NJ homes, you should look for it and expect no less.

1. Ritz treatment is about top quality the sheets, the beds, the flowers, the building, the public spaces are beautiful and made to be enjoyed through touch, feel, smell, views, tranquility, energy and spice, anything and everything to make the clients feel special.

In Princeton real estate we can have the “standard package” with the MLS, the signs, the company web sites. But we can also have a “Ritz” package of creative brochures, beautiful videos, unorthodox advertising channels, interactive presentations, blogs, and web presence that is unique and targeted.

2. Ritz treatment is about the expected standard and reducing risk. When you make reservation at any Ritz hotel in the world you can expect the same standard of quality. It relieves a lot of anxiety knowing ahead of time you can expect quality all the time.

In New Jersey real estate it is also very important to communicate clearly what our standard of quality is and what our clients should expect. Would the service be different for a $300,000 property and a $3,000,000 property? Would it be different for Princeton homes as compared to Montgomery homes? If it is, what is the difference and what should you as the client expect?

Our standard of quality should be just that – standard, meaning always the same as promised. This consistent standard would eliminate a lot of stress and reduce the risk for our clients when selecting their real estate agent and entrusting us with their important asset -their home.

3. Ritz Treatment is about attention to details. My son was very excited when he saw on the web site the picture of a Ritz room with a telescope. He asked me, if our room will have one. I told him it was probably a prop for the photo. To my surprise every room with the view of the New York Harbor had the telescope. This was a detail but it made our stay so much more enjoyable.

In real estate it is as important to deliver the details that make our clients experience more enjoyable. It can be staging, it can be making the showings easier, it can be accommodating the clients’ time and schedule. It’s details that can add to a big difference in service.

4. Ritz treatment is about training. Every employee is trained to the same high level of service to clients.

In real estate it is as important to have agents trained in the best and latest marketing and communication available.

5. Ritz treatment is to say “yes” to clients’ requests. You can stop a person from the housekeeping and ask about something totally unrelated to their department. The answer is always “I will get it taken care of”- and they do.

In NJ real estate do the agents unequivocally say: ” I will get it taken care of”, or do they think its not their job? The answer to which is agent better is pretty obvious.

6. Ritz treatment is about communication. If you are standing in the hotel lobby, you can expect a staff member to come over and ask if you are enjoying your stay, where are you from, is there anything you need? The room attendant will leave you a note with the weather forecast and also asking if there is anything you need.

In real estate it is as important to communicate on a consistent basis with our clients about important things, and sometimes just asking if there is anything else they need?

7. Ritz treatment is about upgrades. When you make a reservation and ask for an upgrade, although they do not guarantee it, they will always do it, if they have room availability.

In real estate it is as important to upgrade our service, when we see an opportunity, or when a client is asking for something extra that can be done.

8. Ritz treatment is about doing the right thing. You will be asked so many times during your stay “Is everything OK?” that it’s probably not possible to have something major or even minor to go wrong without it being addressed right away.

In Princeton real estate it is as important to not allow big time gaps for asking “Is everything OK?” A lot of small problems can be fixed before they develop into big problems.

9. Ritz treatment is to know you as a friend. If you mention an important event in your life, while staying there, you can expect champagne, or fruit, or chocolates and a card with best wishes.

In real estate this may be the most important – treat clients as people and friends who want to receive our best work and best wishes. If you received this kind of real estate service, you would be happy and you would be happy to pay for it.

10. Ritz treatment is to provide the product and service that is worth every penny in the clients’ mind.

Shouldn’t this be the treatment you and all real estate clients deserve?