Why Do I Need An Agent?
“I’m not ready to work with an agent yet,” says Margie; however she picked up the phone and called a real estate agent anyway. She wanted information on a listing. Margie had been calling real estate agents for days to find out about properties she might want to buy. Translation:
- I don’t know what an agent can do for me, and I don’t know you.
- I’m wary of agents because they might try to sell me a home I don’t want.
- I can find my own home
Lots of people don’t trust real estate agents and don’t really understand what an agent brings to the table that they can’t do for themselves. Its an understandable reaction. This is a weird profession to be part of. There’s very little middle of the road. Agents are either despised or loved. They earn an A or an F on their report card – there is rarely a C on performance in this business.
Quite frankly , some buyers and sellers could manage quite well on their own. I believe that an A-rated agent can bring added value to the transaction, but for some consumers, an agent may not be necessary. Here is how you can tell whether it is.
Do You Need an Agent to Sell a Home?
Nobody really needs an agent. As a seller, you can find your own buyer but the lingering question is would an agent have helped you to net more on your bottom line? Much depends on the real estate market.
- In super hot seller markets, almost anybody can stick a sign on the fence and attract offers. Thats because buyers are falling all over themselves to buy and waving money deposits in the air.
- In buyers markets, there are fewer buyers, which makes an agents services worth more.
- More than 80% of buyers purchase a home through a real estate agent. If you don’t hire an agent, you could be losing exposure to 80% of the buying population.
Agents Can Bring Added-Value to a Transaction
Unless you routinely attend every open house in your neighbourhood, you may not possess intimate information about the interiors of your neighbours homes nor why some sold for higher prices than others. Experienced agents have this knowledge and use it to position your home to sell at the highest possible price.
Top agents sell homes day in and day out. Here is a list of services most agents offer to vendors:
- Top notch marketing materials and proven selling systems.
- Professional photography and presentation tips.
- Wide Internet exposure.
- Promotion at company meetings and caravans.
- Networking with fellow real estate agents.
- Price guidance according to market data and recent sales.
- Home stagers, inspectors and repair contractor referrals.
- Buyer feedback and private viewings.
- Qualification and confirmation of potential buyers.
- Counter offer and negotiation expertise.
- Some of the services you may expect as a buyer from an agent you might not be able to obtain on your own. Apart from knowing about listings before they are available to the public, agents can:
- Provide comparable sales data.
- Pull property profiles reflecting sales history, property data, demographics and neighbourhood services.
- Obtain a copy of the properties historical documents.
- Suggest pricing strategy.
- Prepare a strong offer that presents the buyer in the best light based on market demands and agent interaction.
- Provde a buffer between the buyer and the seller.
If you feel competent that you can handle a sale or purchase on your own, you probably can. But you may always wonder if you paid too much or accepted too low of a price!
September 02 2010 02:20 pm | Buying and Selling and Buying Property and Selling Property and The Role and Resposibities of a Real Estate Agent
Alistair Helm on 02 Sep 2010 at 3:21 pm #
Congratulations an excellent and well written article.
I read this and felt an empathy to the world of a real estate agent. I am not / nor have I ever been an agent – I just run the website, but in that role have gained a deep understanding and appreciation of what agents bring to the process.
The one thing (make that two things) that I would like to add.
1. The one thing that most agents rank as the greatest value they add to the process is marketing. I challenge this notion, not totally due to the outcome I see, but more because as a function of the web; marketing is being commoditised and can be often done better through outsourcing.
2. The greatest value an agent adds to the process is often the thing they promote last – facilitation. As you say attracting interest in a property is easy (relatively) but getting that interest to translate into commitment to negotiate is a tough road to go and takes a unique set of skills. This is why so many people try private selling – get loads of page views and email inquiry and then can never convert to viewing and commitment.