Why You Need a Real Estate Agent
In a seller’s market as we are in these days, a common school of thought is going by the way of FSBO (For Sale By Owner), will save you loads of money and rain down the profit from selling your home on your own.
And, if you have the time, organization, resources and patience to deal with and manage all the potential hiccups of a real estate transaction, realtor Andy Piper of PiperPartners says to go for it. He’s been in the business long enough to know the value of a real estate agent isn’t something easily condensed into bullet points of the services offered.
It’s not just about market data to know how to price a home correctly, or marketing properly and widely by being on the MLS, the real estate portal. It’s not even about making sure you’re in compliance with all local regulations,or pre-screening to make sure you only have realistic buyers enter your home.
It’s about having someone on your side who’s objective and professional, who will work in your best interests. It’s about separating yourself from what is usually a personal, emotional place (your home) and acting wisely by having a seasoned real estate agent manage all the details.
Deciding to go FSBO and sell your home on your own means you will negotiate with a professional working to represent the opposing party and rely on your own skill to finalize a contract. The possibility of selling your home for less money, the possible legal problems… these challenges are just a couple facing you, unless you have the contract vetted by an experienced real estate attorney – defeating the initial purpose of saving more by going without a real estate realtor representing you.
Selling your house by yourself can be a successful transaction, of course, but 90 percent of homeowners prefer to work with a professional rather than risk an unsatisfactory home-selling experience, usually one of the biggest personal financial moves an individual makes.
Questions to ask before making your decision:
FSBOs tend to have a higher fall-through (failure) rate – why? Because buyers are not properly pre-qualified. Buyers are not sure about what they want and change their mind. As a buyer agent we take our buyers through a systematic process to get them looking at homes in the areas they want, in the price range they can afford and with the features they need and desire. Agents can also help buyers get through buyer’s remorse – a very real thing in home purchasing.
Do you have a tight timeline? If your move is not time-dependent, then FSBO can make sense.
Are you a do it yourself-er? If you are a diehard DIY-er, then you won’t be able to resist doing your own real estate transaction. And you can probably do it successfully (maybe with some hiccups). A seasoned real estate professional, however, may do 100 transactions a year. They have seen just about every potential bump and can avoid potential pitfalls, legal problems, negotiation issues.
Also, realtor transactions on average go for more money than FSBOs, more than off-setting the savings you might have. Why go through all the headache of selling your own home when you can have a professional do it for you?
Source: Realtor.com, NAR, and Jensen and Company
