These days, there are tons of real estate guides, data, and tools available online. With all the information out there, it’s tempting to think you can sell your home all on your own.
While it’s possible, like many other things in life, it may be highly beneficial to use a subject matter expert to save you much time, effort, and to prevent any unnecessary actions that may cause delay, errors and confusion during the process.
Last year alone, 88 percent of homeowners decided to work with an agent. The following are several reasons why many of these homeowners made this decision:
Market Expertise
You may spend only a few hours a month looking at homes online; however for real estate agents, this is their career.
Though you may choose to take an aspirin for a simple headache, for more severe and/or complicated symptoms, you will more than likely choose to see a doctor.
This also applies to taking your car to a mechanic for major issues, as opposed to doing an oil change yourself, or even making an appointment at your hairstylist for perm, as opposed to trimming your bangs yourself.
Whether it’s insight on pricing, local market information, or knowledge on what potential Buyers are looking for in your area, agents live and breathe real estate daily and this expertise is something you simply can’t obtain from a casual web search.
Negotiating Skills
Negotiating is a fine art, and once you’ve chosen your agent wisely, he/she will provide solid advice and guidance to obtain the price target that you’re aiming for.
The final decisions that come with selling your home, are always yours to make, but it helps to have a strategic negotiator on your side.
What They Know
Selling a home is a complicated process, full of financial and legal obligations that no layperson can be expected to keep track of.
Agents are required to know their way around a contract and keep up with with changing regulations, ensuring you don’t sign a bad deal.
Who They Know
Because they’re immersed in the real estate world, agents can tap into a much wider network to connect you with Buyers.
Agents also have relationships with other professionals you’ll need— lawyers, appraisers, home inspectors, and contractors, just to name a few examples.
Marketing
Chances are, you already have a job, which means you’ll be hard-pressed to find the time and energy for all of the necessary tasks in preparing, marketing, and selling your home.
Meanwhile, a good agent, lives and breathes real estate, and is prepared to handle all the marketing, calls, paperwork, scheduling, and complicated legwork involved.
Ask each agent about the following:
- Their market knowledge for your neighborhood
- What their marketing strategy is for your home
- How they plan to keep you informed about the marketing and sale of your home
- Any other concerns that you may have
Read customer reviews.
Evaluate two or three agents and follow your gut feeling/intuition; don’t just hire the one who promises the highest price.
Last but not least, it’s very important to choose an agent who will strive to get the deal that’s best for you, and not just the one that’s easiest for them to obtain.
For more information, please use the following valuable resources for information about selling your home:
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