When you buy or sell a home, these transactions can be stressful and time-consuming. Each real estate transaction involves many details and lots of paperwork. Moreover, there are many details that must be understood by the seller as well as the buyer.
A real estate agent can help make your home buying or selling experience much less stressful, and much more successful. Why? Because a great real estate agent knows the local market inside and out because they have been helping people buy and sell homes in that market for years.
They know where to find potential buyers who might be interested in seeing your home, they know what similar homes have sold for recently, they know which properties will likely require repairs before they can be sold again and they know how much somebody is willing to pay for a home given its location, size and condition.
Hiring a Real Estate Agent Is Like Having a Guide and Protector
When you hire a real estate agent, you are hiring your own personal advocate and guide through the home buying or selling process. A real estate agent can help you understand how the market works, how to estimate repair costs, how to create a marketing plan for your home, how to negotiate with the other side and how to close the transaction.
A realtor will also help you protect your interests by looking out for issues that might cause a transaction to fall through, such as a faulty title search, a zoning issue or a potential mortgage fraud situation.
Realtors Know The Process
Real estate agents are experts in the home buying and selling process. They know all the steps that are involved in each transaction and they know all the paperwork that must be completed. They know who needs to sign what documents when, they know what documents must be submitted to the lender and they know what documents must be signed at the closing.
What’s more, they have experience bringing all of these documents together for each of the transactions they have handled in the past. If you are a first-time home buyer or seller, you may not know what documents are required and you may not know how to gather them.
A real estate agent will know what documents are required for your transaction, where you can get those documents, and what order you must complete the documents in.
Realtors Know the Current Market Conditions
When you hire a real estate agent, you are hiring someone who has worked in the market for years and knows how it works. An experienced real estate agent will know which areas are hot, which areas are cooling off, and which areas are experiencing significant changes.
A real estate agent will know which of your competitors’ homes are most likely to sell first and for the highest price. A realtor may know of special programs designed to increase sales of homes in a specific area, or they may have contacts with a local bank that can provide special financing to help you buy the home of your dreams.
A Real Estate Agent Can Help You Determine Your Offer Price
The goal of every real estate agent is to help their clients get the best price for their home. However, the seller is often in a challenging position because they may be emotionally attached to the home they are trying to sell. This can make it difficult to be objective about the home’s value.
A real estate agent can help the seller set an asking price that will attract the most buyers, and help the seller set the lowest price that brings in offers. Your real estate agent can help you determine the appropriate price for your home by looking at recent sales of similar homes, checking out the current inventory of homes for sale in your area, and researching current mortgage interest rates.
A Real Estate Agent Knows Which Homes Will Likely Require Repairs Before They Can Be Sold Again
When you hire a real estate agent, you are hiring someone who can spot potential issues with your home that might affect its value. An experienced real estate agent will know to look for problems that are likely to pose a problem for potential buyers, such as a roof that’s nearing the end of its lifespan, a furnace that’s more than 10 years old, or water that is seeping into the basement.
A real estate agent can help you identify these issues before you try to sell the home, and help you decide how much to spend on repairs before the home goes on the market.
Summary
A real estate agent will help you save time and energy by handling the details of your home purchase or sale. They know how to navigate the local real estate market, they know what comparable homes have sold for recently, and they know which homes will likely require repairs before they can be sold again.
When you hire a realtor, you are hiring someone who will advocate for your best interests, help you navigate all the details of the transaction, and help you protect your interests.
