Many question the value of hiring a realtor to buy or a sell their home often believing they can do it themselves by using the internet to do all their marketing. There are many reasons why you should have a realtor by your side when buying or selling your home. In the Sarasota & Manatee there are over 7,000 licensed agents, so it is advised to do your research and find a top quality realtor who will provide you with the best experience. We have listed several reasons why we believe it is important to work with a Realtor:
- Handling High Emotions in Transaction
- Marketing Tools and Connections
- Pricing and Negotiation
- Neighborhood Knowledge and Understanding the Market
- Code of Ethics
- Convenience and Guidance
The process of buying or selling a home is one of the biggest life decisions one can make and often leads to many overwhelming emotions that have the potential to negatively impact the sale. Without having a professional third party who is separate to any emotional ties to the home can cause many problems that risk getting you the best value for your home, amongst other problems that could involve legal issues, contracts, etc. You want someone who knows what they are doing and has the experience, logic, and expertise to support and guide you through any difficult situations while you are buying or selling. Experienced Real Estate agents have seen it all from first time buyers, attached homeowners, reluctant sellers, tough negotiations, contracts gone wrong, deals falling apart, etc. It is more often than not that problems will arise with so many financial choices at stake and a good realtor will provide the comfort of reason and logic when you are feeling panicked.
Real Estate agents have a wide array of connections, especially if they have been in business for years. Everyone has to buy or sell a home at some point in their life and they understand this and keep their network wide and varied. It might happen a past client is looking for a second vacation home and your property listed with that agent is their perfect fit for what they are looking for. In addition, they are well connected with realtors in the area as well as nationally and even internationally who have the potential to bring a buyer. Top Realtors work hard for many years to build the network they have and you are unlikely to have this database on your own as well as the tools to reach out to these people. Real estate agents work tirelessly to keep their social media pages up to date and well informed to attain lots of viewers. They also pay many fees to be a part of various marketing campaigns that can reach thousands within seconds giving your property maximum exposure far past the typical Zillow and Craigslist page advertisements. These marketing tools are paid out of the realtors own pocket without any guarantee of payment for their efforts. Some realtors will go out of their way to host extravagant open houses inviting their database to your home. It is their job to sell your home so they will work full time and a top agent will hire full time team members to investigate all the ways to best market your home.
It’s the agent’s job to help guide in the pricing of your home and as they are not emotionally attached they will be able to guide you to the accurate price of your home using their knowledge of the current market and factors of supply and demand. They will also research surrounding homes and compare the prices to help determine a solid and reasonable value. Your realtor will also help with pricing strategies that will be implemented throughout the time your home is on the market. Whether you are a buyer or a seller having a real estate agent by your side during a negotiation process is vital. They have been selling homes for years and are especially skilled at negotiating. They are professionals who are trained to present their client’s case in the best light and agree to hold client information confidential from competing interests if they are representing you as a single agent.
Real estate agents look at houses for a living and so they know everything about the neighborhoods in their specialised area down to the last detail. Experienced realtors will have spent years driving around these neighborhoods, buying and selling within them and researching the market for each area as well as having watched its ups and downs through the years offering extensive backround information. If you are a buyer, especially out of state, you want an experienced realtor by your side, they will know exactly where to lead you and exactly where not. If you search on your own you may miss out on your dream home and spend copious amounts of hours in neighborhoods you would never want to live in. It is also important to understand the market within the neighborhood to truly gauge its value and what its potential may be for re-selling. The internet is not good enough for determining value and not all homes are listed on Zillow. Zillow can be inaccurate when calculating values. I found this on Zillow’s website: Within 20% of sales price. This is the percentage of transactions in a location for which the Zestimate was within 20% of the transaction price. Nationally, Zestimates are currently within 20% of the final sale price 85.4% of the time. There is even a disclaimer stating Realtors have access to MLS where they can view all properties for sale and lead you to the right direction to get you the best value.
Realtors must adhere to a strict Code of Ethics in relevance to their conduct while doing business with clients and all other parties. It is important to note that there is a difference between licensed real estate agents and Realtors- both are licensed to sell real estate and are upheld to the same legal standards, however, Realtors are upheld to stricter practices by the National Board of Realtors. The first article states that Realtors must pledge themselves to protect as well as promote the client’s interests above their own while acting honestly to all parties. Failing in doing so can lead to fines and revoking of license.
The greatest service provided is the convenience of not having to spend every bit of your time researching into areas you are not an expert in. Hiring an expert to sell your home or find your home is much wiser. There is so much paperwork, scheduling, organizing, and marketing involved when selling your home that it is a truly full time job. Realtors will organize and schedule your showings, flush out non-serious buyers, arrive at showings even when it’s no-show, handle the paperwork like federal- and state-mandated disclosures that with one tiny mistake could land you in court. Essentially, they handle all the things you really and truly do not have time for, taking a lot of weight off your shoulders. They are there to answer any of your questions even after the closing as a good agent is there to assist in all your needs.