April 24, 2014
Why Use a Realtor Versus Selling My House FSBO (For Sale By Owner)
Why Use a Realtor Versus Selling My House FSBO (For Sale By Owner)
Selling your house is one of the largest financial transactions of your life. There are over 180 steps involved in a single transaction, not to mention legal implications! You will have to open your house up for strangers to preview and negotiate the terms of the deal, sometimes against professional negotiators. If this task seems daunting to you, perhaps it would be best to enlist the use of a professional!
Why Use a Realtor Versus Selling My House FSBO (For Sale By Owner)
First, it always needs to be stated that EVERY REALTOR IS DIFFERENT. Make sure you do your homework and recognize that experience does not equal expertise! Contact me today and I will SHOW AND TELL you how I do more for my clients than any agent in the greater Lewis County area!
Here are some of the benefits for using a REALTOR rather than going the For Sale By Owner route.
EDUCATION
An agent’s job is to manage the transaction of selling your home. They represent buyers and sellers (some specialize in one or the other in larger markets) and know exactly what the market is doing at any given time. The education an agent can provide is priceless when it comes to knowing the value of your home versus what the market will bear. The biggest reason homes don’t sell is being overpriced.
LEGAL PAPERWORK
There is a lot of paperwork involved in the sale of a house. All of this paperwork is legal by nature. If you get something wrong, you can and will be held liable. An agent provides protection by handling the paperwork for you, so the liability moves from you to your agent – we are required to have insurance for this very reason. Also, we do this paperwork every day, so it is very rare that we are required to use this insurance! You make the decisions and we do all the legwork for you.
NEGOTIATION
One of the areas where an agentreally protect homeowners is negotiating the deal. You want the best price and terms and it is the job of your agent to get those for you. When selecting an agent, be sure to ask them about their negotiation skills or if they have any designations. I, personally, love the art of the deal and it was one of the reasons that attracted me to real estate. It would make sense, then, that I have obtained the Certified Negotiation Expert designation. Not every agent is created equal, and this is one area where differences are crystal clear.
EXPOSURE
Another benefit when using an agent is that your house gets marketed to all other realtors and their clients via the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). When you try to sell your house FSBO, unless you are a professional marketer, it is extremely difficult to reach a large audience of interested AND qualified buyers. There are lots of “looky-loos” out there, and it is the agent’s job to pre-qualify buyers before showing them homes.
So, why use a Realtor versus selling your house FSBO?
Every transaction is different. It is useful to have a professional there by your side guiding you through all the hurdles. There are 180 steps in a transaction and every single one of them can go wrong. Worse, one tiny mistake could cost you thousands and waste your time in legal battles. An agent will protect you, work with your best interests in mind, and negotiate you the best possible deal.
The hard part is finding the right agent for the job!
How to choose a real estate agent
How to Choose a Great Listing Agent
Content originally posted at www.ErenMillam.biz
