Why hiring a real estate agent is the best way to sell your home

Selling an apartment or a house is not child's play. As a homeowner, you might think that selling your property on your own is easy and will save you money. But it is a time-consuming process, it requires specific skills and mistakes can easily be made. And the biggest mistake is to underestimate the amount of effort, time and cost that will be involved in the process. So before jumping into this process and finding out that you need exceptional negotiation skills, legal knowledge and market savvy to sell your home without a professional real estate agent, read this article. Here are some important things to know about it and why hiring a real estate agent will far outweigh the price of paying a commission fee.

1) Real estate agents have access to large listing networks to help you sell your property faster 

Real estate agents have connections with buyers and contacts who are kept informed of their new listings on the market. They quickly spread the word about the property they have just listed. So, even if you believe that you have a large network that will share your listing, this will undoubtedly be a much smaller pool of potential buyers. A small pool of potential buyers will not garner much demand for it. You will wait longer to sell your home and probably not get the price for which you are hoping. 

Also, keep in mind that in some countries, buyers hire real estate agents to help them find a new home. In these countries, a buyer's real estate agent might discourage their clients from viewing or even placing an offer on a home that has been put up for sale directly by the owner. Agents have often had negative experiences with these type of sellers, who set an unrealistic price, generally don't know what they're doing, and have an emotional attachment to their home.  

On the other hand, realtors have access to multi-listing services (MLS), especially if they are international listing networks, where there is potential for millions of buyers to see the home listing. Sellers often cannot get their home on the MLS and/or must pay out of pocket to market their home. 

This leads to our next reason that hiring a realtor is worth the price of commission. 

2) Agents represent and defend your own interests without you being emotionally involved 

Selling your own home is an emotional process and hiring an agent to represent your interests will keep your personal feelings one step removed from the business of selling the home.With an agent representative, it is less probable that you will make mistakes, like overpricing, being offended by low offers, or failing to maximize your position in negotiations. The real estate professional will communicate with potential buyers on your behalf without the eagerness, desperation or lack of cooperation that may surface in a situation where you try to sell your property on your own. 

Without an agent representative, you will also have to deal directly with rejection, disappointment and negative feedback. An agent can present these things in a constructive way, advising and discussing your options and responses from a less emotional state. Selling a home always has a degree of emotion, but this will be easier with an agent who represents your best interests and is on your side. An agent is the catalyst that separates emotional attachment to the house from the act of conducting a business deal.  

Realtors liaise between agents, escrows, title companies and inspectors while you will have to do all these negotiations yourself.  

3) Realtors bring added value to the sales process 

If you sell a home without an agent, the costs to stage it, capture photographs or video, and pay for marketing are all on the you. These expenses can run from hundreds (up to thousands!) of euros, out of pocket. Don’t forget there is the time and effort of hosting open houses, and viewings by appointment, where you must accommodate bookings into your regular schedule. There will be a flood of queries, often by unqualified leads – people who are just curious to see inside the home. Take note that by selling your home by yourself, you will not always dodge all the realtor fees, as a buyer’s agent will most likely ask for a commission (usually 3 to 5 % depending on the country) from the home sale for their services to the buyer.  

For most sellers, hiring an agent to take care of these things is worth it to them. A realtor will help you stage your home for potential buyers, take pictures, develop high-quality videos or renderings, and list the home on Multi Listing Service (MLS) and listing portals. Open houses, property viewing appointments and consultations with potential buyers will be scheduled on the realtor’s time, so you don’t have to take time off from work and reschedule your life to show the property. It saves time and energy for you. 

By the way, statistics show that on average, you get more money from a sale with a realtor than you would in a personal sale. (NAR)    

4) A realtor knows all the legal aspects of a property sale  

A home sale is a legal contract, so a seller who goes on his own will be required to negotiate and handle all the paperwork associated with this process. There is a legal process for interactions with the buyer, his attorney, the home inspector, the appraiser and the bank. Then there are negotiations and legal procedures for dealing with the seller and financial institutions. If you are unfamiliar with the legalities, the terminology and the process, you may find yourself in legal difficulties, if not done correctly. Some jurisdictions have specific regulations for a home sale and may not even let you close on a home sale without having a real estate attorney present.   

Realtors will broker the negotiations and business transaction between agents, escrows, title companies, attorneys, inspectors and all the steps mentioned above. A real estate agent knows the legal aspects of a property sale and their service on your behalf can make sure that they don’t end up with a lawsuit on their hands. In your lifetime, if you sold all your homes, you would probably sell 1-2, but a realtor negotiates that many homes in a week, as it is their full-time job. So they know all the secrets of the trade and are best able to support you throughout the process of selling your apartment or house. 

5) Being a real estate agent is a full-time job  

Many sellers trying to sell their properties on their own believe that they save the costs of hiring a real estate agent, but they often fail to consider the price they pay in other areas; like time spent and lack of expertise. If you cannot take time off from work every time a buyer wants to view your home or excuse yourself from commitments in order to negotiate and submit paperwork, your property can stay on the market longer than it should – which may cause buyers to suspect that there is something wrong with your home. This costs you money, as the longer your home is on the market, the less it will generally sell for.  

A realtor dedicates time and energy to sell your home, while sellers usually have a hard time managing the viewing and appointments. It is for these reasons (and more) that hiring a real estate agent means you benefit from the service of a full-time professional. A real estate agent will offer you advice on staging, advise you on the best listing price for the market, find and qualify potential domestic and foreign buyers, and manage inquiries, viewings and offers.Agents work long hours, including evenings and weekends, to sell homes for the right price in the least amount of time. Realtors know the market, recognize buying trends and understand the legal standards of the industry. When you hire a real estate agent, you get the benefit of sales experience that has been earned through a full-time commitment to the profession – something that an average seller would not be able to come close to matching. 

Advantages of hiring a real estate professional   

People who sell their properties on their own hope that they will keep more profit from the sale of their home. However, real estate agents have the necessary experience and skills required when it comes to pricing, marketing, and negotiating. Because of this, you can end up making less money on the sale than if you had hired an agent and paid commission. It can also take much longer to sell the home by yourself, as the seller’s market reach is limited to your budget and restricted to your knowledge about where to market. To sell a home by yourself means that it will take over your life! You need to understand the investment of time, effort and money it will take to make a sale on your own. So, taken all together, you may want to consider other options for selling your home.  

Discover more about Sell with Properstar 

Properstar supports you in selling your property at the best price via its network of qualified agents. Start simply by estimating the price of your property, it's free and without obligation! 

How it works: 

You tell us about your project.  Enter the main information relating to your property, as well as your contact details so that we can get back to you quickly.  

  • First, we send you a proposal of 3 agents. Our algorithm selects the 3 most suitable brokers for the sale of your property. A visit is organized to allow them to meet you and carry out the evaluation. 

  • Secondly, we make an accurate estimate. We cross-reference the estimates of the three brokers with those of the software used by banking establishments, in order to determine the fairest selling price. 

  • Thirdly, you choose your agent among the three we have proposed. The final choice of broker is entirely up to you!

And finally, we sell your property. Our performance commission system offers you the guarantee of selling your property at the best price! 

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