6 Reasons to Use a Real Estate Agent

Once you have made the decision to sell your home, the first step you should take is to find an agent. While some sellers may be tempted by the thought to sell the home on their own, study after study shows that sellers will net more for their house using an agent versus selling it on their own.

Here are 6 reasons to take into consideration when buying or selling a home:

1. Pricing is Difficult

A few years ago, you didn’t have to worry about overpricing your home. The situation is quite different today. In this market, time costs you money. A professional real estate agent will discuss how increasing inventory could dramatically impact the value of your property in the months to come. They will help you set the right price in today’s market.

2. Having a Professional to Negotiate

Buyers today have an almost unlimited supply of homes from which to choose. They realize that puts them in a great negotiating position. Most buyers are now being represented by an agent. Sellers need to also be represented by a professional expert trained to negotiate real estate contracts.

3. Financing is Key for Buyers

The biggest impact of the housing market collapse is that lending standards are much stricter today than they were a few short years ago. Rules are constantly changing. Even FHA has gone through a guidelines overhaul in the last several months. You need a real estate expert who has teamed up with a knowledgeable mortgage professional to make sure that the buyer in the deal is in fact capable of obtaining a mortgage. Losing time with an unqualified buyer costs you money in a market where prices are falling.

4. Your Safety

Real estate agents are trained to take steps to protect themselves and their clients. Take advantage of putting a person between you and the person calling on an ad or yard sign. Your agent will also be able to check-in on your vacant home if you have not sold it before moving to a new location.

5. Less Time and Stress

Selling a home could turn into a full time job. Learning the necessary disclosures, coordinating the dates of your closings, dealing with a challenge regarding your appraisal and re-negotiating the offer after an engineer’s report are just a few of the concerns you may face. Your time is more valuable and better spent on the items important to you and your family, while leaving the challenges to your agent.

6. Spreading the Word

Once you list your property with a member of the local MLS, every other member of the system is alerted that your house is now available for purchase. In a matter of hours, thousands of real estate professionals have the ability to easily share the specifics of your home with each of their buyers. There is nothing an individual seller can do to come close to this immediate exposure to thousands of potential buyers. Additionally, your realtor will keep up to date on the most recent ways to advertise your home. Not only do they rely on traditional means of advertising, such as newspaper and television, they will also advertise your home on YouTube, Facebook, and Trulia to name a few. It would be impossible for a seller to get the width of exposure the real estate agent has at his/her fingertips.

In the long run, having a real estate agent represent you on either side of a transaction will give you the best advice, get you the most money or the best price, they will also save you time and unnecessary stress!

And remember, not all real estate agents are equal. A Nothnagle agent can give you additional benefits, tools and resources not available anywhere else.