Choose the agent the way you would hire anyone for a high stakes job: verify the track record, test the judgment, and get the proposal in writing. For a Townsend home sale, that means interviewing two or three agents, asking each the same hard questions, and favoring the one whose pricing is supported by sold data and whose plan covers the whole sale, not just the listing weekend.
Verify the Track Record
Ask how many homes the agent sold in the last twelve months, and how many were in Townsend or the surrounding Greater Lowell towns. Volume matters because it is reps: pricing reps, negotiation reps, appraisal and inspection reps. An agent who closed three sales last year is learning on your house. Ask for recent listings near you and look up what they sold for against what they listed for. That ratio, and the days on market behind it, tells you more than any brochure.
Test the Pricing Judgment
The most important moment in the interview is the price discussion. A serious agent arrives with the comparable sales from your part of Townsend, whether that is the town center, Townsend Harbor, or a street off Main Street, explains the adjustments for your home's condition and systems, and gives you a range with a strategy. Be wary of the agent who quotes the highest price with the thinnest support: winning your signature with an inflated number, then managing reductions for two months, is the oldest pattern in this business, and it costs sellers real money.
Cover the Whole Sale
Ask about the prep plan, the marketing, who handles showings and feedback, how offers will be presented, and what happens at inspection and appraisal. Ask who your day to day contact is. In Townsend, ask specifically about Title V, because many Townsend homes are on private septic, and about condo documents and the 6D if you are in a community, because local fluency in those details is the difference between a smooth closing and a delayed one.
Get It in Writing
Whatever you decide, get the commission, the term, and the services in a clear listing agreement, and get your net sheet before you sign. If you interview me, you will get the valuation, the comparable sales, and the net sheet whether you hire me or not.
Ready to interview agents for your Townsend sale? Call Doherty Properties at (978) 746-0124 and ask for me, Chris Doherty, and I will put my numbers in writing.
Chris Doherty is the #1 selling agent in Lowell, ranked #1 in the city again and again, including in 2024 and 2025, and he is one of Greater Lowell's top-producing agents. He personally sells 100+ homes a year, with 3,000+ career transactions, and Doherty Properties, the company he leads, has handled over $1 billion in real estate transactions.
Doherty Properties LLC, 14 Jackson Street, Lowell, MA 01852 | 160 Main Street, Unit 7, Haverhill, MA 01830 | 4 Courthouse Lane, Suite 2, Chelmsford, MA 01824 | (978) 746-0124 | [email protected]
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