Save money by learning to delegate tasks to your realtor
You have enough things to think about as you move into or out of your southwest Missouri real-estate home and investments situation. Contacting a realtor is more than sharing a small price of your selling price. Utilizing a realtor has its many benefits and you should weight all of these options when you decide to sell. Going it alone is a great choice but choosing a specialized realtor is going to give you many benefits you just didn’t think about…..
Selling your home by yourself will only get as much as your pockets will allow unless you have a huge sphere of influence around you. Even with good personable skills more than likely its not a family member that is going to be interested in your property. With a realtor your property gets marketed to millions of buyers. You wont need to limit yourself and you open up options you did not know were possible.
Realtors have many tools at their disposal that the average FSBO seller doesn’t have access to. We have already discussed how beneficial realtors access to MLS is to selling your home. Now we’ll take a more in-depth look at MLS, and other tools realtors use to sell homes.
MLS is a database limited to licensed brokers and agents who pay a membership fee. Realtors post all details about a home to the MLS database, including pictures, number of bedrooms, and square footage. All realtors have access to this information and share it with their clients. MLS is one of the most powerful tools in a realtor’s arsenal.
A very popular tool that agents are using these days is called Showing Time. As the name suggests, Showing Time is an app that realtors use to keep track of and confirm showings. This app simplifies the process of showing and selling your home. They receive feedback from potential buyers and share all of this information with sellers, keeping them informed throughout the home selling process.
Another tool realtors use is the Supra lockbox to store the keys to the home being sold securely. The automated lockbox is usually located at the front of the property and can be opened with a code or synced with a phone, making it easy for a realtor to show your home on demand. These lockboxes also provide a level of security for a home seller because all access is requested and approved as well as logged.
Yard signs are still an essential part of a realtor’s home selling strategy. A nice white wooden post with a eye catching for sale sign with the agents contact information has resulted in many, many homes being discovered and sold by passing traffic. Don’t underestimate the power of the for sale sign with an eager real estate agent waiting for a call from a potential buyer.
Realtors take many steps to ensure the safety of your home and themselves when dealing with potential buyers. One way of doing that is pre screening potential buyers. A prescreened buyer has already received pre approval from their mortgage company. A pre-approval guarantees a mortgage company has done the following:
- Confirmed the buyer’s income
- Review the buyer’s credit
- Verified other financial and personal details
How does pre approval contribute to safety? It shows the buyer is serious about purchasing a home. It also means the lender has researched the buyer, has their social security number, job history, and other relevant information. Most FSBO sellers won’t have access to pre approval letters before showing their homes.
You can feel at ease when a realtor shows your home, knowing that they’ve done the background work to ensure potential buyers are trustworthy. A realtor won’t show your home to anyone who asks to see it, or at least they shouldn’t be. Realtors also handle your open house; they can access lockboxes and track showings with tools such as Showing Time and the Supra lockboxes as we discussed previously.
A July 2017 study by Collateral Analytics found that For Sale by Owners (or FSBOs for short) don’t actually save anything, and in some cases may be costing themselves more, by not listing with an agent. In fact, the study showed that FSBOs sold their homes for 5.5 – 6% less than similar properties sold by Realtors using the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
Top-notch negotiation skills are a must when selling a home, and good realtors are skilled in the art of negotiation. Poor negotiation skills could result in losing thousands of dollars when selling a home and have buyers walking away with the better end of the deal. If you’re not confident in your ability to negotiate a real estate deal, it’s best to leave this job to the experts.
Your realtor has a fiduciary duty to get you the best possible price for your home. They are also trained negotiators, knowing what works and what doesn’t when it’s time to close a real estate deal. A realtor will keep you from making poor decisions, they guide you through the decision process and negotiate on your behalf, according to your instructions.
Realtors objectively evaluate a buyer’s proposal, ensuring your position isn’t compromised. They also have no emotional stake in the outcome, so they can maintain independence while ensuring your home sells for top dollar. All the above is another answer to the question, why use a realtor to sell your home?
Selling a home is time-consuming. In many ways, it’s the equivalent of a full-time job. Selling your home involves a lot more than putting a for sale sign up in your yard.
If you work full-time, selling a home on your own will be an additional burden to your already long workday. A few questions to ask yourself before listing your home FSBO include:
- Do I have time to field questions from potential buyers throughout the day?
- Do I have time to leave my job to show my home to prospective buyers?
- Will I have the energy to commit to taking advantage of all opportunities to sell my home?
- Do I truly have time to devote to the entire selling process?
If you answered no to any of these questions, FSBO is probably not the ideal option for selling your home. And it doesn’t stop there; selling your own home will require organizing an open house, deciding where to advertise online, showing your home to potential buyers, and many more large and small tasks before selling your home.
When you hire a good realtor, selling your home becomes their full-time job. They don’t have to make time for staging your home, fielding calls, evaluating potential buyers, or listing your property. All of the above are part of their job. Realtors come with all the tools necessary to sell your home successfully and efficiently.
Acting as your own real estate agent is a time-intensive endeavor. Think carefully about the time commitment involved before opting to sell your home FSBO.
Only Realtors are allowed to market homes for sale in the MLS. Because of that, homes sold independently without a Realtor will not show up on the MLS.
Why is that a big deal? Well, the MLS is the first place most Realtors start when looking for homes to show prospective buyers. Listing your home for sale in the MLS offers the property the greatest exposure because it is actively marketed to all 13,000+ Southwest Missouri Realtors, and it is also usually automatically syndicated and displayed on third-party sites like Zillow or Trulia. You get the best of both worlds.
Unless you’re selling houses every day along with whatever your normal day job is, you don’t have as much experience as an agent. Experience can make a huge difference in getting your house sold quickly, or having to drop the price because it’s been on the market too long. Real estate agents know how to navigate the market better than anyone else out there.
They’ve trained for this, they’ve taken and passed exams, and they’ve done this all before. More than once. Their experience is valuable and worth the costs involved. Your end goal is to get your house sold so it doesn’t become a hassle you have to deal with or lose money on. A real estate agent’s goal is the same as yours, they just know how to do it faster and better.
When you’re considering whether or not to use an agent you really do need to consider how their experience can help you get your house sold. They’re the ones that know everything from regulations to tiny things like the best place to look for buyers. Again, this is what they do so trusting the pros, in this case, is a great idea.
Unless you’re selling houses every day along with whatever your normal day job is, you don’t have as much experience as an agent. Experience can make a huge difference in getting your house sold quickly, or having to drop the price because it’s been on the market too long. Real estate agents know how to navigate the market better than anyone else out there.
They’ve trained for this, they’ve taken and passed exams, and they’ve done this all before. More than once. Their experience is valuable and worth the costs involved. Your end goal is to get your house sold so it doesn’t become a hassle you have to deal with or lose money on. A real estate agent’s goal is the same as yours, they just know how to do it faster and better.
When you’re considering whether or not to use an agent you really do need to consider how their experience can help you get your house sold. They’re the ones that know everything from regulations to tiny things like the best place to look for buyers. Again, this is what they do so trusting the pros, in this case, is a great idea.
Not only do Realtors have special training in real estate, there’s no substitute for the boots-on-the-ground experience you can get with an experienced Realtor. They can share their market knowledge with you, they have an understanding of historic sales in your neighborhood, and they are able to conduct a detailed analysis of comparable homes for sale in your area.
And because they’ve been there and done that, an experienced Realtor can often predict what will happen during a negotiation and develop strategies to overcome those obstacles in advance. Experience matters in making sure you get the best possible deal.
A REALTOR® is also knowledgeable on current real estate laws and of all the state required disclosures needed to protect all parties. REALTORS® must stay current on all updates in regulation, laws, contracts and practices and will out their knowledge to work for you. A REALTOR® is familiar with contingencies, addendums and mortgage guidelines of which the average home buyer and seller are not educated on these topics.
Many buyers and sellers rely on websites such as Zillow and Trulia for home values but there is a great risk in doing so. In many cases online estimates can be off by as much as 35 percent. REALTORS® know the local market and have access to the most current data and will price your home in line with the local market to maximize your profit when selling.
Are you ready for your phone to ring and for your email to blow up? Many homeowners that try to sell their home independently give up after a week or two because it is such a hassle.
Think about it. You’ll be getting contacted directly by agents, nosy neighbors, and potential buyers that want to see your home. Next, you’ll be dealing with disclosures, inspections, contracts, and potential re-negotiations. Once your home is under contract, you also have to deal directly with the Title Company and other parties to bring the deal to a close. A Realtor handles those details for you.
A Realtor will customize the experience to your needs so you don’t have to worry about any of the things listed above. You will get to care for the things you need to tend to while the magic of selling your house is done for you stress free.
A home is so much more than four walls and a roof. And for most buyers, a home is the biggest purchase they’ll ever make. Having a concerned, but objective, third party helps you stay focused on the issues most important to you when emotions threaten to sink an otherwise sound transaction.
Realtors are experts in determining how to price your house. They have an array of tools at their disposal to ensure they accurately set your house’s price, so you get the best deal possible. One method they use to determine your home’s value is comparative market analysis (CMA). A CMA estimates your home’s value based on recent sales of similar homes in your area.
When conducting a CMA, realtors use the following tools and methods to price your home:
- They consider current homes on the market
- Home appraisals
- Market Conditions
- Home size and usable space
These factors are all key to determining how a realtor prices your house and ensuring it sells at the best price. A realtor can also recommend ways to improve your house, such as repairs and cosmetic work that will increase your home’s salability.
Realtors stay current on home prices in your market. They closely monitor the market paying attention to any changes that could impact your home’s value. They make sure your home is listed at an accurate price that garners potential buyers’ attention while allowing you to sell at the best price.
Sellers who go at it alone risk undervaluing or overvaluing their home; having an emotional attachment to their home makes it difficult to see it objectively. A competent realtor will help you avoid these pitfalls.
Without formal training, it’s difficult to understand the ins and outs of real estate contracts. There are many laws governing home sales, and these differ from state to state. A realtor has the training to help you navigate the legal paperwork and ensure you stay within the bounds of the law.
A real estate purchase contract has a lot going on in them. Especially when you add in all the contingencies, riders and addendums that make the deal come together but each have very specific legal ramifications that you will need to be aware of and understand how each will impact your home sale.
One of your most important responsibilities when selling a home are the seller’s disclosures, which become part of the real estate contract. A seller is responsible for disclosing to the buyer any material fact that may affect the home’s value or desirability. Fail to disclose, and you could be held liable for fraud, breach of contract, or negligence.
Your realtor has the expertise to ensure you don’t run afoul of the law when selling your home. Realtors also stay up to date on the changing legal landscape that may impact real estate contracts. If you fail to disclose something negative about your home, a buyer could sue you. Realtors can and do make mistakes, but they have business liability insurance.
An FSBO seller has to learn all of these laws and regulations on their own. There’s a lot of legal jargon to sort through, including the differences between binding and non-binding contracts. If you hire a realtor, you’re hiring an expert in real estate law.
Escrow is the time between when a buyer makes an offer on your home that you accept, and you close the deal. The escrow process begins after you and the buyer have signed the purchase agreement; it ends when funds are disbursed at closing. Being in escrow refers to the legal procedure for transferring the title of a house. If you’re working with a realtor, they’ll have an escrow account for you to use for deposit funds and help you navigate through the process.
An escrow officer will secure essential items related to the sale until the deal closes and the property officially changes hands. Escrow protects all parties to a real estate deal by ensuring money doesn’t change hands until all sale conditions have been met. Tasks that need to be completed as part of the escrow process include:
Home inspections: home inspector checks the interior and exterior of your home for anything broken, defective or hazardous
Repairs: After the buyer’s home inspection, the buyer will have an opportunity to negotiate repairs to be done before closing
Appraisal: The buyer’s lender will order its own appraisal of the property to protect its financial interests
Mortgage approval: Buyers must wait for bank approval and secure financing before closing
At all steps in the escrow process, the seller and buyer can negotiate terms. Remember what we said earlier about the importance of negotiation skills? If a realtor isn’t representing you during this process, your best interests may get passed over.
Wading through the escrow process as an FSBO seller can be confusing, not impossible though. But as we keep saying, if you are unsure of yourself, it’s best to leave it to a professional agent.
Closing a home is a complicated and emotional process. One of the biggest benefits of working with a realtor is you get their undivided attention focused on your needs during this time. Knowing you have an expert with you as you close your home can have a calming effect. Realtors are legally bound to look out for your best interests, closing included.
Realtors understand the complexities of closing paperwork and know what needs to be done while working with your attorney or title company. Contracts and disclosures are often difficult to understand and have many opportunities for items to come up last minute. Your realtor will ensure you understand any last minute bumps in the road and that everything at the closing goes as smoothly as possible.
Having an agent to advocate with you and for you during closing is invaluable. You’ll also have someone to celebrate with once the sale has been finalized!
