Top 7 Reasons to Hire An Agent

To get top dollar in the shortest amount of time, you need an expert on your side.   You could go it alone and try to save the money by not paying commission to an agent.  Before making that decision, here are some reasons to use a real estate agent.

  1. Market Expertise – Your agent will know the other properties in the area and what they are selling (or sold) for. Agents have access to information that you can’t get on your own.  They are also not emotionally attached and can give you a more realistic expectation of selling then you may come up with on your own.
  2. Selling Expertise – As much as you love your style, potential buyers may not.  An agent has experience knowing what buyers are looking for, how to stage your home that will attract the most potential buyers and how to get your home ready for showings and open houses.
  3. Connections – There’s no underestimating networking in this day and age.  A large portion of the market is sold from agents contacting other agents.  Buyer’s agents bring the buyers and without a selling agent, you don’t have a way of reaching those buyer’s agents.  Multiple listing services are accessible to agents, but not somewhere you can advertise yourself.  This is a big advantage, as many of the agents will search the mls for homes to show their buyers.
  4. Marketing – Buyers know that agents can find a house with their search criteria.  Agents will also spend the time and money to market your house to get it in a better position to see.  This can include professional photos, virtual tours and videos as well as listings on major sites such as Trulia or Realtor.com.
  5. Red Tape – Complicated bank rules, legal requirements, endless documents, certified items in triplicate, extra signatures and never ending reams of paperwork, can make the whole sale process an overwhelming one for buyers and sellers doing it on their own. Estate agents will fill in all the necessary paperwork, prepare, sign and certify documents needed and submit them, keep you up to date and follow up with registration of mortgages. When it comes to important investments, this is one of the financial and legal reasons for employing estate agents.
  6. Security – One of the sensible reasons to use a realtor is to ensure that the buyer or seller on the other side of the deal can be held accountable in the event that things don’t go according to plan. There are many crooks and cowboys out there, but a professional agency can go a long way in making sure things are kept on the straight and narrow. It is much more difficult for slick con artists to continue with bad or illegal business practice when there is an entire agency backing you up.
  7. Negotiation – Not everybody has honed their negotiation skills like an agent has. In many cases, people regard negotiation as confrontation or conflict, and although they may be very savvy business people, will end up not being able to successfully negotiate things like terms of sales with prospective buyers or sellers.

FSBO (For Sale By Owner) can be rough at best.  While many people have successfully sold their home, statistics show that selling with an agent tends to yield a 10% higher price than those selling without.  This more than makes up for the commission that your agent will charge (which is usually 4-6%).  Adding up how much time and aggravation you’ll save and the higher sell price – it’s clear that you need to hire an agent to sell your home.  Be sure to hire the best!  For a free market analysis and personal advice, call Helen today at 847.967.0022 or email [email protected].