Why Do You Need a Realtor?
-- Posted: October 24,2007 | Brian Varvel
Real estate transactions involve one of the biggest financial investments most people experience in their lifetime. Transactions today usually exceed $100,000. If you had a $100,000 income tax problem, would you attempt to deal with it without the help of a CPA? If you had a $100,000 legal question, would you deal with it without the help of an attorney? Considering the small upside cost and the large downside risk, it would be foolish to consider a deal in real estate without the professional assistance of a REALTOR®.
But if you're still not convinced of the value of a REALTOR®, here are a 25 more reasons to use one:
Buyers:
1. What's Your Buying Power?
That is, your financial reserves plus your borrowing capacity. If you give a REALTOR® some basic information about your available savings, income and current debt, he or she can refer you to lenders best qualified to help you. Most lenders -- banks and mortgage companies -- offer limited choices.
2. Do You Have the Resources?
Sometimes the property you are seeking is available but not actively advertised in the market, and it will take some investigation by your agent to find all available properties.
3. How Much Do You Know about this Market?
Agents who are REALTORS® have access to a variety of informational resources. REALTORS® can provide local community information on utilities, zoning. schools, etc. There are two things you'll want to know. First, will the property provide the environment I want for a home or investment? Second, will the property have resale value when I am ready to sell?
4. Your REALTOR® can help you negotiate.
There are myriad negotiating factors, including but not limited to price, financing, terms, date of possession and often the inclusion or exclusion of repairs and furnishings or equipment. The purchase agreement should provide a period of time for you to complete appropriate inspections and investigations of the property before you are bound to complete the purchase. Your agent can advise you as to which investigations and inspections are recommended or required.
5. Due Diligence through Evaluations.
Depending on the area and property, this could include inspections for termites, dry rot, asbestos, faulty structure, roof condition, septic tank and well tests, just to name a few. Your REALTOR® can assist you in finding qualified responsible professionals to do most of these investigations and provide you with written reports. You will also want to see a preliminary report on the title of the property. Title indicates ownership of property and can be mired in confusing status of past owners or rights of access. The title to most properties will have some limitations; for example, easements (access rights) for utilities. Your REALTOR®, title company or attorney can help you resolve issues that might cause problems at a later date.
6. What do you Know about Your Lender?
Everyone knows an agent these days, just as everyone knows a mortgage lender. But do you know that 9 times out of 10, most hangup's at closing involve the lending aspect of the deal? This is why you need to ensure that you have a quality lender that is both proactive and responsive when problems arise. REALTORS® have the experience and history to recommend quality lenders to minimize your hassles.
7. From Beginning to End.
There are a good many steps to take from the time you sign an agreement through your closing; this is precisely why most REALTORS® will tell you that finding a buyer is often the easiest part of selling a home. With negotiations, surveys, appraisals, inspections, paperwork, deadlines, and option periods, coordinating your closing to go off without a hitch takes the experience of a REALTOR®.
8. Homes are bought by comparison.
Qualified REALTORS® have access to the largest inventories through one or more local MLS boards. Public websites such as REALTOR.com, HOMES.com and others are usually fed from these local boards. The problem is these listings can sometimes take weeks to propagate to public websites. By then, hot properties such as the one you're looking for could be gone.
9. REALTORS® provide objectivity.
Since a home often symbolizes family, rest, and security, not just four walls and a roof, home selling and buying is often a very emotional undertaking. And for most people, a home is the biggest purchase they'll ever make. Having a concerned, buy objective, third party helps you keep focused on both the business and emotional issues most important to you.
Sellers:
10. Is Your Information Up to Date?
These are key factors in getting your property sold at the best price, quickly and with minimum hassle. There are many websites that claim to give you accurate information about what a particular home might be worth, but almost always the prices they quote are based either on outdated appraisals or on tax assessments. You need good numbers - the actual sales prices, what other concessions are being made, how long sales took, and what kind of financing a particular property qualifies for.
11. Marketing Your Property.
Often, your REALTOR® can recommend repairs or cosmetic work that will significantly enhance the salability of your property. Your REALTOR® markets your property to other real estate agents and the public. In many markets across the country, over 50% of real estate sales are cooperative sales; that is, a real estate agent other than yours brings in the buyer. Your REALTOR® acts as the marketing coordinator, disbursing information about your property to other real estate agents through a Multiple Listing Service or other cooperative marketing networks, open houses for agents, etc. The REALTOR® Code of Ethics requires REALTORS® to utilize these cooperative relationships when they benefit their clients.
12. Advertising Your Property.
There is a misconception that advertising sells real estate. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® studies show that 82% of real estate sales are the result of agent contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends, family and personal contacts. When a property is marketed with the help of your REALTOR®, you do not have to allow strangers into your home. Your REALTOR® will generally pre screen and accompany qualified prospects through your property.
13. Evaluating Offers.
This initial agreement is only the beginning of a process of appraisals, inspections and financing -- a lot of possible pitfalls. Your REALTOR® can help you write a legally binding, win-win agreement that will be more likely to make it through the process.
14. Let's get you Closed.
Between the initial sales agreement and closing (or settlement), questions may arise. For example, unexpected repairs are required to obtain financing or a cloud in the title is discovered. The required paperwork alone is overwhelming for most sellers. Your REALTOR® is the best person to objectively help you resolve these issues and move the transaction to closing (or settlement).
15. Qualifying Buyers, Minimizing Hassles
It takes a lot of work to get potential buyers through your home, but unless they come through - they'll never buy your home. So how disappointing would it be to go through all the
work only to find out your visitors are just looky-loos or could never be a financially viable candidate for a buyer. Buyers are not always forthcoming about their financial situation. REALTORS® pre-qualify visitors prior to putting them in their cars, meaning your home is only exposed to buyers that can actually BUY your home.
16. Why Won't You Make an Offer?
Most buyers don't want to tell a seller why they don't make an offer. REALTORS® will probe buyers or their agents for that information to help present it for the next buyer. Any follow up homesellers do with a buyer can be seen as desperation. REALTORS® follow up as part of their jobs so that their clients are not perceived in a compromising light.
17. Showcase Your Improvements
REALTORS® can showcase home improvements to their buyers in a positive light, whereas any attempt by a homeseller to highlight those same improvements will come across as 'selling'.
18. REALTORS® have networks.
Most buyers use a REALTOR®, which increases the number of buyers who are exposed to your home. We can also mobilize other agents within our companies on your behalf. In our office, we have over 200 REALTORS®; that's 200 REALTORS® and all their clients that will instantly be exposed to your home.
19. For Sale by Owner?
Most sellers who spend their time as a For Sale by Owner end up listing in the end. A recent HAR survey found that only 11% of sellers nationally ended up selling by owner. Why spend your time and money if in the end you will hire a REALTOR®? That same NAR survey also discovered that REALTOR® assisted sales brought in an average of a 20% higher sales price over For Sale by Owners.
20. How Accessible is Your Home?
Being accessible to show your home limits your personal time and cuts down the available showing time. When you list your home with a REALTOR®, your property will be
available during normal showing hours and the prospect will always be accompanied by their REALTOR®.
Buyers & Sellers
21. MLS. MLS. MLS.
Whether buying or selling, there's no getting around the local MLS board. If you want to know where the available homes are, or you want your home to have it's due exposure, the MLS is the only way to go. If you're home's not listed, it's not in the MLS... which means the only way someone's going to find it is if they happen to drive by it, or if they catch your classified ad. Not very good statistics for either of those options.
22. Avoiding Conflict.
Personality conflicts between buyers and sellers can get in the way. REALTORS® act as go-between's so that personalities aren't factored into a deal.
23. The language of real estate.
Real estate has it's own language. If you don't know a CMA from a PUD, or an option period from an environmental survey you can quickly understand why it's important to team with a REALTOR® that knows the language.
24. Is your sale legal?
There is a veritable ton of legal documents in any given sale or purchase of property. The contract, 8 pages. The addendums, 5 - 10 pages. Disclosures, another 5-10 pages. And that doesn't even get into the negotiations, amendments, changes, title work, lending documentation, surveys, appraisals, inspections, etc. Your REALTOR® will make sure all the appropriate paperwork is completed correctly, on time, and in accordance with your agreement.
25. We're only paid when the job is done!
REALTORS® do not charge up front for their services. They are only paid once the job is complete, and they're paid from proceeds at closing, not out of pocket.
Brian Varvel, At Home in Katy
Brian is the owner / operator of the At Home in Katy Team at Keller Williams Realty Katy @ Cinco Ranch. In addition to his real estate career, he is also a regular contributor to multiple websites on real estate and technology. Brian also takes great pride in serving on the Board for Cinco Charities, Inc. a non-profit organization serving the Katy area.
You can contact Brian at:
281.787.0930
brian@athomeinkaty.com
http://www.athomeinkaty.com
For Sale:
