TOP 6 REASONS TO ENGAGE A REAL ESTATE AGENT WHILE SELLING YOUR HOME
Selling a house is a stressful and daunting task for even experienced homeowners as it is time-consuming and requires lots of energy. It requires the performance of a number of critical tasks which include advertising, promoting, scheduling buyer visits, showing the property, negotiating, doing the paperwork etc. So unless you are into real estate and have tons of time and energy to spare, it is prudent to hire a real estate agent to manage all these activities. So before you make up your mind to sell your house on your own or to engage an agent, go through the top 6 reasons sellers hire real estate agents.
#1 Accurately and correctly price of your property - A real estate agent is aware of pricing and valuations of properties similar to your home in your neighbourhood and can ensure that you neither overprice nor underprice your listing by giving you a correct valuation based on years of experience. Mispricing of your house can result in it sitting idle on the market for months or even years or it selling below its fair market value with consequences of lost time, mental agony and not to mention lost money. With the assistance of a seasoned agent, you are very likely to price your house near to its fair market value.
#2 Better presentation of your listing - Agents know very well the positive things they need to focus on and will highlight them while selling your property so as to make your property more attractive to potential buyers. They are well connected to professionals, who can make necessary repairs and small improvements at minimal costs not only to prevent a negative impression on buyers’ minds but also to increase the selling price of the house. Real estate agents can also help you in staging your home on their own or can even engage a professional stager, if required, in order to improve your home’s appearance to pull more buyers from the market.
#3 Close the deal quickly - Real Estate Agents have a wide professional network and have access to Multiple Listing Services and other online paid listing services which can help you reach out to a large pool of potential genuine buyers faster and help you close the deal in a jiffy. Many homeowners don't have spare time and energy to show their home to potential buyers and neither do they have the experience to weed out non-serious individuals posing as buyers and given that agents are professionals with plenty of time they assist you in connecting with potential buyers faster.
#4 Sell your home at a higher price - Research has shown time and again that homes sold through Real Estate Agents typically fetch as much as 15% higher price than properties listed for sale by the owner. Agents have all the knowledge and years of experience which homeowners lack when it comes to negotiating with the buyer. As the reach of an agent is wider than the homeowner, hiring one frequently results in more suitors and consequently bidding wars leading to higher sale prices. Moreover, given that they are not personally involved in the transaction they would certainly keep emotions out of the way when dealing with the buyer which would not be feasible in the case of an owner negotiating directly with the buyer. Further, their commissions are directly tied to the selling price, so it is in their own interest to sell your house at a higher price.
#5 Receive higher buyer exposure - As agents are well connected to other agents and potential buyers, have connections in advertising and media, have paid subscriptions to multiple real estate websites, and have access to Multiple Listing Services, they have wider and better reach with the target audience than a typical homeowner has. An agent can generate better and more leads than a homeowner and has higher chances of lead conversion. Real estate agents now have their own websites and social accounts with some even having thousands of followers which increase your chances of getting a better response to your listing.
#6 Manage paperwork – As the stakes are high while selling a house, even a minor sloppiness in paperwork might very well lead to implications like lengthy and costly litigations, tax troubles etc. Given real estate agents have extensive experience dealing with paperwork they are more knowledgable and aware of than an average seller, hiring a real estate agent could reduce such risks giving the seller peace of mind.