Real Estate Is a Full-Time Job
Can you rush home from work every time someone wants to see your home? Can you excuse yourself from a meeting every time your phone rings with a potential buyer? At the end of a long workday, do you have the energy to take advantage of every possible opportunity to market your home? Are you an expert in marketing homes?
Do you have any experience doing so? Your answer to all of these questions is probably “no.” An agent’s answer to all of these questions is “yes.” In addition, by going through an agent, you’ll get a lockbox for your front door that allows agents to show your home even when you aren’t available.
Agents Access Large Networks
Even if you have a large personal or professional network, those people will likely have little interest in spreading the word that your house is for sale. You don’t have relationships with clients, other agents, or a real estate agency to bring the largest pool of potential buyers to your home. A smaller pool of potential buyers means less demand for your property, which can translate into waiting longer to sell your home and possibly not getting as much money as your house is worth.
Weeding Out Unqualified Buyers
Ignoring the Home’s Flaws
Agents are experts in what makes a home sell, they can walk through your home with you and point out changes you need to make to attract buyers and get the best offers. They can see flaws you’re oblivious to because you see them every day—or because you simply don’t view them as flaws. They can also help you determine which feedback from potential buyers you should act on after you put your home on the market to improve its chances of selling.
Exposure to Legal Risks
A lot of legal paperwork is involved in a home sale, and it needs to be completed correctly by an expert. One of the most important items is the Sellers Disclosures. A seller of real estate has an affirmative duty to disclose any fact that materially affects the value or desirability of the property.
An agent can find out whether someone who wants to view your house is really a qualified buyer or just a dreamer or curious neighbor. It’s a lot of work and a major interruption every time you have to put your life on hold, make your house look perfect, and show your home. You want to limit those hassles to the showings most likely to result in a sale.
“Realtors are trained to ask qualifying questions to determine the seriousness, qualification, and motivation of a prospect”
They can move a qualified and motivated person to the point of purchase, where as a FSBO seller can lack this training and skill set.
The issue of whether a fact is material or not is generally established in the case by the law of the state in which you live in. A seller can be held liable for fraud, negligence, or breach of contract if they do not disclose properly.
The Bottom Line
It’s a tall task to learn how to sell your house without a realtor—and selling your home will likely be one of the biggest transactions of your life. You can try to do it alone to save money, but hiring an agent has many advantages.
So if your on the fence give us a call today and determine that answer for yourself.
- Agents can get broader exposure for your property
- Agents can help you negotiate a better deal
- Not to mention they can dedicate more time to your sale
- An agent brings expertise to a complex transaction with many potential financial and legal pitfalls