Table of Content
- Top 8 Reasons to Hire a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Home
- U.S. Building Permits Fall 11.2% in November, While Housing Starts Only Dip Slightly
- Behind the Scenes of 'Buying Beverly Hills': 5 Shockers About the 90210 ZIP Code—and the State of Reality TV
- Negotiating is not easy an easy task
- Real Estate Agents Prevent Emotional Sales Decisions
- Selling Your Home with a Real Estate Agent
Michelle Gibson of the Hansen Real Estate Group Inc is a full-time REALTOR who has been specializing in Wellington Florida real estate since 2001. This veteran of the real estate industry has expertise in technology, marketing, and social media. It’s still beneficial for sellers to do some initial market research and get an idea of their pricing potential. Still, this data isn’t as reliable as information sourced by a realtor.

A good REALTOR® that is knowledgeable of the area is essential to getting the best deal on your home. Without a buyer’s agent to help you manage the contingencies in your offer, you might miss something important and risk the purchase falling through. Your real estate agent won’t get paid until the sale closes, so they have a good incentive to make sure everything goes smoothly. A buyer’s agent can help you submit competitive offers, even if you can’t afford to be the highest bidder.
Top 8 Reasons to Hire a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Home
There are several stages, procedures, and processes that must be followed. An experienced real estate agent can help you get your house ready for sale, point out housing-code or zoning violations, and suggest improvements to help your house sell. There are lots of ways to find a great local real estate agent, including asking friends and family members for referrals and searching online.

According to Elizabeth Weintraub, Home Buying/Selling Expert at About.com, “Today's purchase agreements run 10 pages or more. That does not include the federal- and state-mandated disclosures nor disclosures dictated by local custom. Most real estate files average thicknesses from one to three inches of paper.” This means that you must have all of these documents in place or you might otherwise risk legal troubles.
U.S. Building Permits Fall 11.2% in November, While Housing Starts Only Dip Slightly
In general, having a partner who deals with real estate transactions often can give you great peace of mind in the process. A realtor can handle the day-to-day questions and actions necessary to complete the sale. When the sale is complete, you can be sure that all the necessary paperwork is completed and that you may move on to new beginnings in your life. One big point of negotiation in home sales as of late has been giving sellers more time to find their next residence using a rent-back arrangement.
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. 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. Realtors come with all the tools necessary to sell your home successfully and efficiently.
Behind the Scenes of 'Buying Beverly Hills': 5 Shockers About the 90210 ZIP Code—and the State of Reality TV
It is tempting to many to try to sell alone to save that percentage of the sale that goes to realtor commission (typically around 6% of the sale price). However, you will gain so much more by hiring an expert to help you with your home sale. Agents aren’t lawyers, and some states will require you to work with a licensed real estate attorney regardless of whether you’ve hired an agent. That said, real estate agents do a lot to coordinate a complex transaction and are trained to help the seller execute a “by the book” deal. Most people only buy and sell a few homes in a lifetime, and there’s usually quite a number of years in between the homes. With that being said, laws and regulations change quite frequently and it is a real estate agent’s job to stay up to date with the most current changes in the housing market.

Perhaps the most underrated reason to work with a real estate professional is because of the advice he or she can give you. Experienced agents have seen it all and they know exactly what has happened to many other people in your position. From giving you honest advice on your asking price to teaching you how to stage your home properly, getting this advice is truly invaluable.
Ability to sell for more
Buyer’s agents are paid from the proceeds of a home sale, so you don’t have to pay anything out of your own pocket to work with one. For example, if a home seller fails to disclose repair issues, the buyer might sue for damages. Errors and omissions insurance would cover legal costs in this case. Home sellers who work without an agent sell their property for 5–7% less, on average.

For example, in many cases, I know how many offers a home got, what the top price was and what contingencies they kept and what they waived. This is how I know how to price to ensure you’ll get the best results. There are nuances between different streets in the same school district that very few people know unless they live and work here full time. I will stand as a buffer for the flow of complex information and terminology that comes with the selling process. There are many laws, forms and disclosures you need to know to sell a home legally and without potentially getting sued later. Selling a home comes with a lot of paperwork, and your real estate agent will handle it all.
Over the past decade, more homeowners have been exploring a self-managed listing when selling their homes with the intention of cutting costs. However, cheaper isn’t always better, especially when dealing with the financial stakes of selling a house. A real estate agent can help you fill out the paperwork you will need before you offer your home. Realtors belonging to the National Association of Realtors, are held to a certain standard of a strict code of ethics to follow. Every Realtor has a fiduciary and ethical duty to protect their clients best interests while treating all parties honestly. They skillfully work with the buyer’s agent to get you an offer that meets your needs in terms of price, timing, and repairs.
By working with a Realtor, you can ensure that the right documents are completed for the sale of your home so that the transaction is legally binding. In addition, the Realtor can work directly with the entities involved in order to obtain the approvals needed to finalize the sale. Many sellers have the idea that if they opt to not use a Realtor, then they might have an easier time selling when in almost every case, the opposite is true. If you value your time and money, it is in your best interest to work with an agent that has experience in your local market. Selling your home can come with many complicating factors that are beyond the knowledge or skill of the average homeowner or even real estate agent. But working with a real estate agent helps to keep the home selling process in an objective perspective when you need it.