Reasons to Hire a Professional Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Home Part 1

While you are certainly permitted to sell your home “By Owner”, the primary drawback to doing so is that it makes you 100% responsible for knowing AND following all the requirements and steps involved in selling your home. Now, many people think that they actually need a real estate agent in order to sell their home by law, but there is in reality no law or requirement that mandates that you hire one to help you in most states. But, in those few states that DO require you to have a real estate agent in order to handle the paperwork that is associated with closing your home sale, be sure you first check with your state department to see if you live in one of those required states before listing your home for sale by yourself. If you find that listing your home as For Sale By Owner is not in the cards for you, hire a professional, and experienced real estate agent to sell your home for you. It will save you lots of time and effort in the process for sure. Agents list your home in the right places and set up your home to be shown to potential buyers as well. There are numerous reasons to hire a real estate agent: Knowledge of the Neighborhood A great real estate agent knows the real estate market in your area, has access to data about recent sales in your neighborhood, and can help you price your home accordingly. Agents have lots of intimate knowledge about the local area to share with buyers, or they know exactly where they can find out more details about the neighborhood. They identify comparable house sales and pass this knowledge onto buyers, in addition to pointing them in the right direction where they can find further data on schools, crime and demographics. Experience and Education You don't need to know everything about the buying and selling process when you hire a real estate professional who does know for you. People are looking for more precious time in their lives, and hiring the right real estate pros gives them that time. A real estate agent has access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) as well. By hiring a broker, information about your home will be available to agents all across the area. They can conduct searches in the MLS for potential buyers to locate properties the buyers might be interested in too. The right real estate professional will help you get your house ready for sale, point out housing or zoning violations, and recommend further improvements to help your house sell quickly. In addition, a real estate agent is professionally trained to ensure that the sale of your house goes smoothly. Price Guidance Contrary to what many believe, agents do not select random prices for sellers or buyers. The right agent will help guide their clients to make the right and informed choices for themselves. If a listing is at 8%, for example, an agent has a 8% vested interest in the sale, but the client has a 92% interest. Selling agents will ask buyers to weigh all the data supplied to them and to choose the proper price. Based on market supply, demand and the conditions, the agent will devise a negotiation strategy. Agents Are Buffers Agents take the spam out of your property visits and showings. If you're a buyer of new homes, for instance, your agent will whip out his/her sword and keep the builder's agents at bay, preventing them from nipping at your heels. If you're a seller, your agent will filter all those phone calls that lead to nowhere from curious nellys and try to entice more serious buyers to write an offer immediately.