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 simple enough. A short trip to the hardware store for a yard sign and a couple quick ads on social media 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 all these agents know the pertinent details of your home and all have the potential to bring you their buyers, resulting in many more showings and potential offers.
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 are always up to date on the latest pricing trends.
BUYER QUALIFICATION
Realtors 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 buyer. This information also helps the Realtor send the buyer to the mortgage lender who offers the financing that is most appropriate for their situation, and get them pre-qualified to prevent wasting the seller’s time on unqualified purchasers.
NEGOTIATING AND CLOSING SKILLS
Realtors understand the sensitive areas of the negotiating process and attend to the many details of closing the sale. An experienced Realtor earns their fee by representing your best interest and knows how to deal with the opposition, whereas a seller typically has very limited or no experience and could end up with a less advantageous result.
ADVICE: Why take a chance with one of your largest investments? Don’t be a riverboat gambler; leave the professions to the professionals.
