Get More By Working With a Real Estate Agent

Tiffany StaplesHomeowner and Homebuyer Tips

Some people think the answer to saving money when selling their home may be to list it as “For Sale By Owner.” In most instances, the opposite is true! The value gleaned from hiring a professional real estate agent to list and sell your home is worth the cost of paying commission in many ways. It generally outweighs any savings from the DIY route which involves only paying commission to the buying agent or paying no commission at all.

Here are our top five reasons you should hire a real estate agent:

1. The Agent and their brokerage assumes marketing costs. 
Simply placing a sign in your front yard or just posting your house for sale on your Facebook page won’t cut it. It takes more to get top dollar for your home when you sell and a real estate professional is familiar with and has relationships with the best marketing tools out there. Professional signage alone can cost hundreds of dollars, including installation on your property. Typically, your listing agent will prepare printed marketing materials, complete with professional photos, to have by your property “For Sale” sign or in your home as a take-away for agents and potential buyers to take upon viewing your home.
Placing your listing on the multitude of home search sites is imperative to selling your home. Buyers no longer wait for the real estate agent to shop for them. Tech-saavy home buyers search sites like Zillow in search of their next dream home. Listing your home on 50+ home sites comes at a price – a price that your real estate agent will assume when listing your home.

2. Real Estate Agents can help set an appropriate listing price for your home. 
So you have looked at what you consider to be comparable homes in your area and you think you have set a good price, but do you really know that you set a fair price? A professional real estate agent will come in and pull the true comparable homes in your area and accurately price your home based off their many years of experience. In many cases, “For Sale By Owner” homes are priced well below or well above market value and will end up hurting your bottom line in the end.

3. Have a professional negotiator on your side.
Do you negotiate contracts for a living? While you might, chances are you don’t. Real estate contracts can be confusing and messy. Hiring a real estate agent will ensure that someone who is professionally trained is on your side during the contract negotiations process. They will work with you, as well as with the potential home buyers and their real estate agent to reach a fair outcome.

4. Access to a professional home photographer.
Hiring a professional photographer, especially when trying to sell something, is always a sure bet they will capture their subject in the best possible light. Real estate agents have relationships with professional photographers that specialize in home photography and are familiar with the exact way to photograph your home so it appealing to would-be home buyers. Photographs set the first impression for potential home buyers – long before they even set foot in your home!

5. Staging Tips and Tricks
Professional real estate agents walk in and out of homes on a daily basis. They see what works and they see what doesn’t work. They know what makes buyers react in a positive way and what turns home buyers off in minutes of entering a home. While they may not be professional home stagers, the knowledge that a professional real estate agent can supply when helping you to showcase your home in it’s best possible light is priceless. If you have that challenging case as well, real estate professionals can help point you in the direction of reputable staging companies as well.