By Briggs Dickerson
As a homeowner, there's only so much you can do when trying to sell your home. When it comes to real estate, hiring a professional agent is more of a need than an option. A real estate agent's greatest goal is to sell your house at a higher price in a lesser number of days.
While it's possible to sell a home without representation, it's important to remember that real estate is also a legal matter. In fact, there has been a massive increase in scammers targeting real estate clients because they're fully aware that some people don't seek agent representation.
If you decide to sell your house, understand that it's a heavy process with many stakes involved. Here are some reasons why hiring a real estate agent is crucial:
Years of Experience
Nothing can beat experience. As a homeowner, you might believe in relying on the internet, family or friends; however, the experience of a professional real estate agent is what will truly help you secure a worthy investment.
With years of experience in cracking the real estate code, agents know the times of the year when house prices go up and when potential buyers are most active. Hiring an agent will save you the stress of learning everything about buying and selling a house.
Negotiation Skills
Experience also endows real estate agents with impressive negotiation skills. Dealing with buyers, brokers and legal representatives on a daily basis, real estate professionals know exactly what each stakeholder wants.
Agents have the skills to negotiate prices well and secure a worthy investment. You'll never be disappointed after hiring a competent agent because they'll provide the best representation for your property.
Access to a Critical Database
Real estate agents have deep connections and access to crucial real estate databases. The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is an interface of all the current homes for sale. When you hire an agent, all the information required to sell your house will be available over the MLS for other agents. Your agent can effectively advertise your property by featuring an attractive package. With instant visibility, there are far more chances of selling your house quicker than when you may have tried it on your own.
Your agent can carry out research over all these databases and shortlist potential buyers that might be interested in your home. With greater access to buyers, you can sell your house fast instead of waiting and lowering the price. Hiring an agent may seem costly at first, but it can give you the upper hand in steering the price of your house.
Network of Professionals
Agents can never give their best service in isolation. With experience and education, they will always have a pool of professionals that they stay in touch with for speedy selling, buying and referrals. Agents work with many other people who can directly impact the price of your property.
Knowledge of Market Conditions
Real estate professionals have to stay updated with the rising house prices, and the best times to invest in the real estate market. They have insights into the market conditions that'll eventually dictate the price at which you sell your house. There are many calculations involved when it comes to learning the real estate climate. Data like the average-per-square foot cost, average house sale prices, list-to-sold prices and how long a house stays on the market are all things that ultimately decide how fast your house sells.
Learning about this can be a hefty task, especially when you have to take care of the investment and insurance. Instead of taking all the stress yourself, hire an agent to guide you accordingly. You'll save both time and money.
Confidentiality and Security
As mentioned, with scammers on the rise, it only makes sense to hire a professional who will keep all your information confidential until the deal closes. With your identity papers, bank statements and mortgages at stake, hiring an agent is critical. Sometimes, even the smoothest transactions can have issues like tax assessments and missing stamps. Missing even a single step of selling your house can come back to haunt you. Enjoy the peace of mind that follows placing your property in safe hands.
Buying and selling a house is no joke—it's a lifetime investment. While these are only a handful of reasons eliciting the importance of a real estate agent, hiring one will save you from the trouble of paperwork, taxing complications, and, most of all, fraudulent schemes.
Briggs Dickerson works as a broker-in-charge with Sands Realty Group, Inc., a prominent REALTOR in Myrtle Beach. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1998 with a finance and marketing degree. His work experience includes managing a Myrtle Beach landmark for the past 17 years, Peaches Corner. He also has had his General Brokerage license since 1999.
