By
Mary Fetzer
Is it a waste of money to pay
a realtor to sell your home? Some property owners think so, but the services
provided by a quality real estate agent are
arguably worth the money. Before you post that “For Sale by Owner” sign,
consider what that 6 percent of your sale price could buy.
“The reality is that a
professional realtor provides a wealth of knowledge, experience, and marketing
capability that a property owner just doesn’t have,” says Jolie Williams, a
realtor associate at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – Dallas/Fort
Worth.
“When an agent is not
involved, there is greater risk that a critical (and costly) step in the legal process of
purchase will be missed,” says Glenn S. Phillips, CEO of Lake Homes Realty, a
multi-state real estate brokerage. “Does the homeowner understand title
insurance, contract details, required federal and state legal disclosures, and
the closing process? Can the homeowner provide clear title? Does the
homeowner know how to resolve unexpected outstanding liens that may appear
prior to closing?”
Granted, people who profit
from selling real estate are, of course, going to extol the virtues of what
they do for a living. Read below to hear them lay out the case themselves, and
if you choose to forego one, you very well might want to hire a real estate lawyer to
help you work out the details.
Knowledge
A realtor is well versed on real estate laws. “We
are educated on market trends and statistics, legal disclosures, real estate
financing, contracts, contingencies, and deadlines,” explains Williams. “The
highest offer does not always yield the highest return, and realtors are able
to identify the best offer out of a pile.”
Experience
“An experienced real estate
pro knows the legal paperwork inside and out, and I’ve seen sellers lose out by
not using a realtor,” says Brad Pauly of Pauly Presley Realty in
Austin.
A realtor performs tedious,
time-consuming tasks that sellers do not want (or are not qualified) to do,
which include scheduling home inspectors and appraisers, ordering title
insurance, and assisting in acquiring documents such as termite bonds,
homeowner association account statements, and fire-dues paperwork.
“We perform multiple real
estate transactions a year,” says Williams, “and this experience keeps us
up-to-date with the market and with the legal aspects of selling a home.”
Marketing
“When selling a home, a
realtor knows who to use for photographs, how to create a brochure, where to
print the brochures, how to get a sign installed, how to create a web page, how
to advertise the web page online, how to schedule an open house, how to get
feedback on showings, how to analyze the market,” says Gary Lucido,
president of Lucid Realty in
Chicago. “The list of tasks is huge.”
In the age of the online home
search, these tasks are important, which is why many realtors have full-time
marketing and PR teams on call. “We can suggest stagers, photographers, and
fixes that will help the seller get top dollar,” says Bianca Mitchell, a
residential realtor with Partners Trust Real Estate in
Los Angeles. “Most sellers don’t have the resources, time, money, or background
to successfully market their homes to the level that a professional agent can.”
Networking
You’ll reach far more buyers
with a selling agent than you ever could on your own. “We can post a property
on hundreds of websites to reach realtors and buyers,” Williams explains. The
agent uses the all-important Multiple Listing Service, or MLS. Without it, “98
percent of current buyers will not see the property,” says Pauly.
And realtors are connected.
Mitchell is continually working with house hunters and meeting with brokers who
are on the search for inventory. “When you list your home with me, I may
already have a buyer in mind for your property and can assist in a quick sale,”
she explains. “Most sellers don’t have a network of buyers lined up or the
marketing power of a real estate firm.”
Pricing
“Homeowners rarely have the
data to determine a current market value for their home,” says Phillips. “They
can see how nearby homes are priced, but those homes may have more or less
space, different zoning, or
more or fewer bathrooms, which means they’re not true comparables.”
Determining what your home is
worth requires more than looking it up online. “Online pricing tools are rarely
accurate and can cause sellers to overprice their home,” says Mitchell, who’s
been in most of the on-market (and many of the off-market) properties in her
market. “Knowing the right price allows for a quicker sale and avoids the need
for a price reduction and re-marketing down the line.”
Phillips wants homeowners to
understand that they won’t pocket 6 percent by not hiring a selling agent.
“Buyers know that for-sale-by-owner sellers are not paying commission,” says
Phillips. “Buyers expect to get that amount as a discount off the selling
price. In the end, the price gap between buyer and seller is often larger than
when an agent is involved because neither party is well equipped to negotiate away
that difference.”
Interestingly, Colby
Sambrotto, founder of FSBO.com and ForSaleByOwner.com, didn’t sidestep a
selling agent when selling his own property. “Sambrotto hired a real estate
agent to sell his $2 million condo and increased his sales price by 7.5
percent,” says Williams. “Proof right there that hiring a realtor is the best
decision.”
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