Hiring a Broker 101: Signed Marketing Plan

From time to time on TrueGotham we’ll be offering tips for buying and selling apartments in New York.
Today my advice is simple, but frequently overlooked: when you are selling your apartment, get your broker to print out, present, and sign a marketing plan.
You want that in writing.
There are very few brokers in the industry who will actually commit to what they say they’re going to do. It’s easy to promise a certain mailing, or e-mail marketing, or this much advertising, or that you’ll hold a certain number of open houses.
As soon as you sign on the dotted line, with some brokers those promises go right out the window.
Get yourself somebody who will type out a full marketing strategy specific to your apartment. And make them sign it. Make them commit. You’re committing to pay them six percent–make them commit to delivering what they’re getting paid six percent for, because it’s a lot of money.