Yes we want to sell you a house…but

Yes we want to sell you a house but we are more interested in telling you the truth. Is that wrong?

Would you rather be told what you want to hear or be told the truth?

What value a realtor or real estate agent?

You are thinking of selling your house and there are many agents who will clamor to list your home.  But what value does a real estate agent or a Realtor actually bring to the table? Why not sell the house yourself?

If you have agents come to your home and give you a listing presentation most will sound identical. They may have a fancy presentations, some bring what look like art portfolios, the bigger the presentation the more impressive it must be, right. But ultimately most of those presentations are going to be the same. Lots of information about their company, all color coordinated so you pick up the branding. Yet more information about the agent, how many million dollars of real estate they have sold, and what they are going to do for you and how they are going to do it. Broker opens, public opens, placing your home in the MLS and a sign in your yard, advertising in the newspaper, for what that is worth nowadays, etc. etc. And maybe after an hour of this drivel they will talk about your house, and what they think it is worth compared to houses that have sold recently and how you need to price it like these houses.

So if they are all basically the same and most of this information you can obtain yourself  and do similar things, why use an agent?

Well, not all agents are equal! Firstly, do you know the difference between an agent and a Realtor? Realtors are members of the National Association of Realtors plus their state and local associations and subscribe to a Code of Ethics which is usually higher than that required by their state.

Then are you using an experienced agent who works full time in real estate or a friend who only works part time and maybe does only one or two transactions a year? Every transaction is different with different issues that arise and an experienced agent who does many transactions a year knows how to handle these situations.

What you actually pay this agent who is going to sell your home is transactional security? Transactional security? What is that? It is what happens after you obtain an offer, it is the negotiation skills and experience, not just for the asking price but through the property inspections, it is holding the deal together, it is making sure the mortgage approval is more than just a piece of paper. It is knowing if that mortgage offer is an agency backed approval so it can be transferred if a program by one mortgage broker is dropped it can be placed elsewhere with relative ease.  It is making sure that your house reaches settlement and that the stress of selling and moving is controlled.

Yes, and it is knowing how to price your home. What use is it pricing a home against what has sold, if this is all you consider. Your buyers are not going to see what has sold unless they have been looking for a long time? They will see what is on the market right now. That is your competition and you need to be priced to attract the right buyers to your home versus your competition to provide the best value to your potential buyers. There is nothing wrong in being priced aggresively because without any offers you have nothing.

So, it is not about the company, the agent or what color scheme they use, it is experience, skill and how many of their listed homes actually sell.