The field of real estate is complex and most of the time risky. While lots of people have earned huge sums of money from sky-high home prices in the past years, there are those who lose huge amount from bad buying, selling and investing decisions, and the lack of knowledge in general on what action to take, especially when selling their homes. This trend in real estate will continue, but you’ll never benefit from it if you don’t seek the help of an expert real estate agent to help you in selling your homes.
Cara Ameer, in her article written for Inman has identified 8 serious reasons selling without the help of a real estate agent is a recipe for disaster. These are the reasons:
8 reasons selling without a real estate agent is a recipe for disaster
Let’s face it, selling a home without a real estate agent is just plain risky. FSBOs jeopardize time, money, and most importantly, an advantageous outcome.
But, despite research that shows that shows that FSBO listings sell for about 5.5 percent less than comparable properties sold through the MLS, some sellers still want to go the do-it-yourself route, forgoing the cost of commission and the aid of an agent.
In reality, a listing agent brings more to the table than most homeowners realize. The next time you try to turn a FSBO, point them to these critical questions and remind them of these eight invaluable benefits agents offer.
1. Knowledge
What you don’t know can absolutely hurt you, and it can come back to bite you even worse.
A real estate agent’s knowledge is priceless.
Agents know what the internet doesn’t tell consumers, and they can provide insight that consumers can’t get online.
Agents know how to make sense of the data and the entire selling process so that sellers and their home are fully prepared before hitting the market.
2. Time
Everyone’s time is valuable, but do sellers truly have time to attempt to play the real estate agent role?
Are sellers available to show their home in a safe manner, and is it accessible on a moment’s notice?
How will sellers handle showings when they are on vacation for a week and there are cash buyers in town?
Can you say lost opportunity?
Do sellers have the time to devote to scheduling and managing showing appointments? What about feedback? Do sellers know what questions to ask and the best way to reach agents to elicit a response?
Are they able to aptly respond to agent and buyer questions, concerns and objections in a manner that will help overcome the hesitation to move forward?
Are sellers able to offer solutions to buyer-perceived obstacles with the property? Can they furnish expert resources such as architects, contractors, designers, engineers or other experts?
3. Presentation
Image is everything when it comes to real estate. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and the same goes for putting a property up for sale.
Do sellers know how to properly prepare their home for sale, and do they know what it needs or doesn’t need?
Are they able to stage it or bring in someone who can? What about professional photography, drone, video and 3D? Are they able to orchestrate photo and video shoots with ease and know who to contact? What about photo styling and having an eye for how a space will translate on camera?
4. Marketing
How are sellers going to market their property? Do they know who the buyer demographic is for their home and/or neighborhood? How do sellers reach buyers?
Do sellers have access to predictive analytics or know how to strategically promote the listing to other agents in the community and on social media?
What kind of print media is appropriate for the property, and how will sellers have that created and printed? What agents are most likely to have buyers for the home?
Are they local or regional, or must sellers reach out nationally or internationally?
In real estate, the world doesn’t seem so vast as agent networks are strong, and six degrees of separation often ensues when an agent in New York City reaches out to his or her agent contact in China about a buyer for a property. Learn more about the reasons here…
These reasons actually made a lot of sense. It is really difficult and risky to do the selling on your own without the help of an expert real estate agent. Apart from being a recipe for disaster, common misconception about seeking the help of an agent incurred additional cost for the seller. But what really is the cost of selling without an agent? Amanda Riggs, in her article published at The National Association of Realtors analyze the possible loss of selling homes alone, debunking the misconception of saving money from doing so:
Selling Your Home Solo to Save Money? You’ll Actually Make Less Than You Think
Some homeowners opt to sell their residence without a real estate agent to get around paying a commission and make more of the profit. Forty-three percent of people (down from 48 percent last year) who sell without a real estate agent think that if they sell themselves, they’ll end up doing a little extra work in exchange for not paying a commission or closing fee. According to the research, however, what they actually get is a lot of time spent hustling to make the sale and a final selling price that is less than what the market can bear.
Do you have a lot of extra time to market your home and do all the work to meet and greet properly? Are you versed in local trends on the housing market and know the latest regulations for closing a sale? Do you have a list of potential buyers ready to view your home? Eighty-nine percent of all homes sold in 2017 were sold with the assistance of an experienced real estate professional, according to the 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Most leave it to the professionals, yet there is still a small group of people who prefer to do it themselves. Eight percent of home sellers chose to list themselves, known as For-Sale-By-Owners (FSBO) home sales. That number has steadily declined since 2004 where only 82 percent of all home sales were agent-assisted and 14 percent of homes were listed FSBO. FSBO sales are currently at an all-time low since data collection began in 1981.
Picture This: are you a single female seller, early sixties, selling a single-family home or mobile in a suburban or rural area? If so, you might want to consider working with a real estate agent.
Let’s break it down further. Thirty-eight pe
Image Source: National Association of Realtors
rcent of all FSBOs—that’s only three percent of the total home sales in 2017—were homes sold to people where the buyer knew the seller selling to a friend, neighbor, or family member. However, 62 percent of FSBO home sales—five percent of total homes sold—were sold by the owner to someone they didn’t know. According to the 2017 Home Buyers and Sellers Profile report, sellers cited creating yard signs, listing their homes online on multiple websites, spreading the news through word of mouth, putting out classified ads, displaying on social media, hosting an open house, and registering with the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database. That’s a lot of work just on marketing and finding potential buyers. Read the entire post here…
Now that you know the underlying risks of selling your home without the help of a real estate agent, the best thing to do know is also to be more knowledgeable in real estate selling to fully understand what your agent is trying to say or do. However, the question is how to become successful in real estate? Brandon Reynolds listed all the habits you must have in order to become successful in real estate:
Want to succeed in real estate? Focus on these habits.
Cassidy, a real estate investor who has made millions of dollars in real estate deals, and works as the owner of VOL Homes, is no exception. He’s experienced his fair share of setbacks, but insists, “the most important thing(s) to being a successful investor are… perseverance, adaptability, & [a willingness to keep learning]. A prospective investor only actually becomes an investor if he/she possesses this quality. My perseverance comes from pure stubbornness and the refusal to give up. Bad stuff, roadblocks, and challenges happen all the time in real estate investing. One must learn to overcome those obstacles. Landing quality deals consistently isn’t easy. One must adjust incessantly in order to realize some level of success. What worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. [Being willing to learn, constantly,] is what separates the big dogs from the sheep, and it is one’s best shot at longevity as an investor. It makes me shudder to see investors who refuse to learn new things, methods, and [new] ways of doing things. Learning requires making mistakes, wrong turns, goose eggs, etc. Some investors find something that works for a while and look no further. The question becomes, “When will that well run dry?” Investors who step off the learning bus inevitably fall by the wayside.” Read more of the habits here…
Now that you know the importance of being knowledgeable in real estate and seeking the help of an expert agent. All you have to do is trust in your agent. Dependable Homebuyers has been helping homeowners sell their homes the quickest possible time.
