Top Ten Reasons To Use A Real Estate Agent

In Real Estate we have our our Unbeatable 8, our Sure-Fire Best 9 and our All-Time Top Ten.

It's now time we have "The Top Ten Reasons To Use A Real Estate Agent".

When my Google Search for "The Top Ten...", provided 1,230,000 links; I decided to contribute the 1,230,001st.

I culled through my scripts (the ones I believed), my local Realtor's Association course material and the more interesting and promising Google links; and came up with my list:

1) Price (a): In NAR Surveys the number one For Sale By Owner (FSBO) concern is Determining The Selling Price. Too high, your home sits on the market, growing stale. Too low, you don't get your home's true value. Just right, you sell your home for the best price in the shortest time.

2) Price (b): Agents, having sophisticated software, access to Local Property Sale data and Special Sauce (working knowledge of the local market); generate a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) for your home.  Agents have the software and expertise to price your home, with all its features, to sell at the highest price in the shortest time. Zillow.com, RealEstateABC.com and other AVM's (Automated Valuation Models) are cheaper (free) and faster (seconds), but their data can be months old and often doesn't reflect the condition of your home or immediate market trends. Always get 3 estimates and find out why your Agent's price estimate differs.

3) Price (c): The Time Value of Money: On average the carrying cost of a home is 1% per month or 12% per year. Agents have the skills to price your home to sell at the highest price in the shortest time. Can you afford to wait for 1% per month?

4) Marketing (a): Agents have access to the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) which sends out all current listings to all the trained and State licensed Real Estate professionals in the MLS (In Rochester, NY, 3,000 Realtors).  Their business is to sell your home. In most places it is hard or expensive fora non-agent to access the MLS. (In Rochester, "MLS Only" Services charge between $295 and $995, but I'm sure you could pay more.)

5) Marketing (b): Agent-To-Agent Network. Since almost 90% of home sales are handled by Agents, Agents have the most qualified leads of buyers for your home. An Agent can email the top 25-50 agents in your area, who undoubtedly have the best qualified buyer leads.

6) Marketing (c): Agents know the best places to Advertise. With over 75% of home buyers starting their search for a home on the Internet (and almost 100% using the Internet at some time in their home search), do you plan to effectively advertise your home on the Internet and push it out to Google Base, Zillow.com and all the other Search Engines?  Ask your Agent how he or she plans to advertise your home: with the lawn sign, in print, with flyers and on the Internet. Will your home only be on the local MLS, Realtor.com, and the company Website?  Or will your home be on those sites and GoogleBase, Zillow.com and all the other major Search Engines?

7) Staging: In NAR surveys the number 2 home seller concern is correctly Staging their home for sale. Agents can give general advice, there are TV shows about staging and there are Professional Stagers.  Agents I know won't put your house on the market unless it is properly staged.

8) Non-Agent Network: Selling a house can involve a lot of people, many who aren't Real Estate Agents, your Agent's Non-Agent Network: Lenders, Lawyers, Inspectors, Insurers, Contractors, Movers, Landscapers, etc.  Your Agent has a working knowledge of all the potential players in your home sale and has a vested interest in the success of your sale.

9) Negotiation: Your Agent sells houses full time. You sell houses part time. Your Agent sells homes for a living.  He is a Professional Negotiator. He is the best one, to get you the best price, in the best time.

10) Barbers, Bar Tenders and Real Estate Agents: Finally, your home sale can be a very personal and emotional experience.  An Agent can act as a Emotional Buffer, letting you know what to expect and helping you deal with all the frustrating details. If your Agent doesn't listen, then listen to someone else. "It was just meant to be." "It just wasn't meant to be."...

• What you don't spend on your Agent, you may spend on your lawyer; and at a different hourly rate.
• Your Agent doesn't get paid until you get paid.
• Your Agent only gets more if you get more.
• It's in your Agent's best interest to get you the highest price, as quickly as possible.
• Agents shield you from unqualified buyers.

Any thoughts, comments or emails?

Adapt Or Die!  Happy Searching.

WebHomeUSAblog; The Blog of Real Estate Search Marketing

Comments

[john harper]

Clifford - well said. One other point you allude to at the end but failed to say explicitly - agents know about the details - inspections, paperwork, etc.

[jf.sellsius]

Bingo! Post to be framed.

[Marshall Walsh]

Hi, I am involved in a community association of about 4000 in polulation and we do a quarterly newsletter. Would it be ok if I used some of the information you have in your article in our newsletter. I will credit your blog and also just others look at the top 10 reasons to sell your house yourself.