From time to time, some homeowners decide to try to sell their homes themselves in the hope that they may save the money that would be paid a Realtor®. At first glance, selling a house seems simply enough. A short trip to the hardware store for a yard sign and couple quick ads in the local newspaper and presto, the buyers start to appear at your door.
Like many other things in life, selling a home can be much more difficult.
The ability of a Realtor® to sell at a higher price than an owner is rooted in the fact that Realtors have many more tools at their disposal. Let’s take a look at just a few of them.
Multiple Listing Service – When a property is submitted to the local multiple listing service, hundreds, even thousands of individual agents, who are paid only if they make a sale, are alerted that a certain property is now on the market. This means that the agent hired by the seller now becomes one of thousands who now know all the pertinent details of a home and are all equally welcome to bring their buyers.
Pricing Expertise – No one knows the current market like a Realtor. Every local area and its home values are constantly changing. These changing values are a reflection of the law of supply and demand. Because Realtors are in the market daily, they know all the pertinent details of a home and are all equally welcome to bring their buyers.
Buyer Qualification – Realtors can’t waste valuable time showing homes to people who have bad credit or are unable to afford to buy a home. They know how to ask the hard questions that need to be asked in order to be sure they are spending their time with a viable purchaser. This information also helps the Realtor send the buyer to the mortgage lender who offers the financing that is most appropriate.
Negotiating and Closing Skills – Realtors understand the sensitive areas of the negotiating process and the perilous task of attending to the many details of closing the sales.
Advice: I doubt that you would call a dentist to perform open heart surgery. Why take a chance with perhaps your largest investments. Don’t be a riverboat gambler; leave the professions to the professionals!
