Selling a home can be stressful enough for any home owner. With so many things to think about — setting the right price, staging, the seemingly never ending legal documents — it’s easy for a home seller to get overwhelmed quickly. Even still, many home owners choose to do it alone, and go the “For Sale By Owner” route. While the benefits to this seem appealing at first, especially when looking at the commission percentages that get paid out at closing, the process can actually be longer, more difficult and more costly in the long run. Here are a few reasons why you should consider using a realtor when selling your home.
Your home listed at the right price: Realtors understand the market better than most, and will do market comparisons to make sure your home gets listed fairly for your area. Websites that give estimates on your home value are rarely correct, and if based solely on those, you run the risk of under-selling your home, or not selling because it’s listed too high. They can also recommend ways to help your home be more attractive to potential buyers. The number of homes that sell by owner has actually decreased to less than 10% over the last twenty years, with 89% of homes being purchased through a real estate agent.
Bigger Online Presence: 90% of all buyers search for their homes online. Your real estate agent will know the best way to maximize your listing, not only through the MLS, but additional sites as well. Getting you the most exposure possible means a wider pool of possible buyers that otherwise wouldn’t have known about your home.
Paperwork: The amount of paperwork that can happen during the home selling process can be daunting. If you aren’t familiar with all the legal documents and contracts that need to be completed, you may end up slowing down the closing of your home, losing you money in the long run. Your real estate agent is a professional when it comes to the necessary documents, and knows exactly what needs to be accomplished when. This not only takes the burden off of you, but can speed up the closing process as well.
Better Home Presentations: While presentation isn’t everything in selling your home, it does carry a lot of weight. Buyers need to be able to see themselves in your home … not see you. A great agent will guide you in staging your home properly, making it look it’s absolute best for the potential buyers walking through your home!
Get the Right Potential Buyers: For Sale By Owner homes will often waste numerous hours having unqualified buyers walk through their house. More often than not, real estate agents won’t show homes to buyers unless they are able to purchase your home, meaning it’s on you to figure out if they are pre-approved or pre-qualified (and know the difference!) If not, then you are likely to see a lot of traffic with individuals who aren’t ready to purchase, but want to see your home anyways. Having an agent by your side drastically reduces the number of instances where this happens.
The Kibler Group
Keller Williams Partners
www.KiblerGroup.com
KiblerGroup@kw.com
(719) 440-1130
