Last post, I discussed a few of the reasons why you should always get a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Home.
Your Real Estate Agent Has Time
Getting a home prepared for the market, getting it on the market, marketing it once it’s on the market, and selling it, requires a lot of time and effort…Even just thinking about it can be exhausting for homeowners!
In a world where you’re working, maybe have children, a side-business or a hobby that takes up your free time, you likely won’t have the energy (let alone the time) to put into selling your home. A Real Estate Agent, on the other hand, has their entire working day to put into selling your home. An experienced Real Estate Agent goes through the selling process on behalf of clients so many times that it becomes a bit of an established routine, rather than a guessing game to decide what the next step should be.
Your Real Estate Agent Can Be Available At A Moment’s Notice
When your home is on sale and there’s an eager homebuyer that wants to see the home for themselves, they’ll have their own schedule in mind. Just like a homeowner, they have a job and their own family and needs to attend to. They’re adding in a home viewing into their day when possible, and that time may not coordinate with your schedule.
A Real Estate Agent has their entire day dedicated to listing homes, selling homes and showing homes. Their schedule will have the flexibility to show potential homebuyers your home when it suits the homebuyer’s schedule. By having a Real Estate Agent show your home, don’t need to rush out of work or stop your errands at a moment’s notice to meet a potential homebuyer.
On a side note, you’ll need to work with your Real Estate Agent to discuss your comfort levels with home showings. Most busy homeowners will get their Real Estate Agent to use a lockbox on their door, so the agent has access to the home for reasons like showings. A lockbox will have a keypad in which a Real Estate Agent will enter a code, and the box will open up with a key inside to access the home. Both the homeowner and Real Estate Agent need to be in agreement with the use of a lockbox.
Your Real Estate Agent Has More Negotiation Power and Professionalism
A Real Estate Agent knows the ins and outs of Real Estate contracts including what buyers and their agents are expecting during the home buying process. There may be requests made by the buyers and their agent that will be brought up in the contract and someone inexperienced in these terms and negotiations may not know how to handle them.
A Real Estate Agent typically has the experience and negotiation power to go through these terms and discuss with a buyer or a buyer’s agent to come to an agreement that satisfies both parties.
The other side to this is that a Real Estate Agent will come across as more professional to a buyer or buyer’s agent strictly because of their credentials and status in the Real Estate world. This brings out a level of respect and trust in the process that could otherwise be non-existent if a homeowner did the sale. They also have an understanding of the legal side to home buying, which can be a source of complication for homeowners that try to take on the jargon on their own.
It’s also worth noting that mortgage lenders are less likely to fund a mortgage for a home that’s for sale by the owner (FSBO) versus a Real Estate Agent. To ensure you get all the potential buyers you can, get represented by a professional Real Estate Agent.
A Real Estate Agent Can Bring Out a Bidding War
A Real Estate Agent will market your home in a way that makes it desirable to a variety of people. When they get your home into local listings, they’ll be placing a price tag on it that is appropriate based on the comparables in the area. As a Real Estate Agent markets a home and bring in potential buyers for walkthroughs, they can get a sense of how many potential buyers will place an offer.
If your Real Estate agent gets the sense that there are interested homebuyers and they begin accepting offers, they will let buyers and buyers agents know that there is a lot of interest in the home. When this news is delivered to potential buyers, it can ignite a small bidding war for your property. This means usually means an increase in the offers you’ll receive as potential homebuyers try their luck with bidding their top price for the property.
A Real Estate Agent Can Remove The Emotions
Another great reason to have a Real Estate Agent on your side for the sale of your home is that they have no emotional connection to your home. The trap that homeowners can get caught in when selling on their own, is the emotional connection to the memories they’ve made in their home over the years. A homeowner may also have a harder time looking at their house in an objective manner if their judgement is clouded. For example, if a potential buyer has a small complaint about a feature of the home, a homeowner may get offended and be unable to react in an objective way. This can sour the experience for the potential buyer and can cost the homeowner the sale.
Trust a Real Estate Agent to look at your home in an objective manner and field any concerns from potential buyers. This will save you an emotional rollercoaster journey through the home sale and allow you to focus on your next home as you get ready to part ways from your current one.
Save yourself the work that a Real Estate Agent can do easily. Turn over the sale of your home to a trusted Real Estate Agent like myself for the best home selling experience. I like to work with clients to understand what’s important to them in the process and take out the complicated aspects so they can focus on their lives, and I can close the sale. If you’re thinking of putting your home on sale in Guelph or the surrounding regions, give me a call and we can get started!