TeamWe all have mixed experiences when it comes to selling or buying a house. There are so many problems that can arise during this process and that is why we have professional, specialized people that help us from start to end – the realtors. However…
What if our bad experiences come from bad realtors? What can we do if the people that are supposed to help us through this do not have clue about what they are doing? And, to top it all off, let’s be honest, they are not cheap so we better hope they know what they are doing.
This is why so many people question if they should hire a realtor to help them list their house, and it is becoming more and more common to just list it ourselves. In the end though, is this the right approach?
Pros of having a realtor
The clearest advantage of having a realtor is having a professional backing you up during the whole process. They know what makes houses sell, prices, how to bring people and organize open houses, how to take care of the property documents and more. Selling a house is not a simple and clean process, especially if it is your first time doing it. Lots of things are confusing and require a lot of research if doing them by yourself.
Another great advantage, especially for me, real estate agents work as buffers between buyers and sellers. A complicated way to say they deal with the clients. So, you never have to deal with buyers or even meet them. If you sell a lot of properties, then you should know that there are very tricky clients out there that make problems out of everything. With a realtor, they deal with all that while you carry on with your daily life.
We can’t possibly forget to highlight the realtor’s network. They have clients on hold looking for great opportunities, they connect with other real estate agents to see if they have clients looking for specific types of properties and they have platforms to advertise said properties. Their reach is vastly bigger than the average person trying to sell their home.
Lastly, paperwork and reaching out to banks. Realtors have special relationships with banks, they know the people there and know how to facilitate loans to buyers, meaning that your house sells faster! And, at the end, there is a ton of paperwork that both the buyer and seller need to fill to take care of the property transfer. They facilitate all of this saving hours upon hours of potential problems.
Pros of not having a realtor
As everything in this world, there are also downsides to hiring a real estate agent, especially if that professional is not a trained professional at all!
The first big advantage here is your negotiation potential. Without the realtor’s fee, you have more wiggle room regarding the price of your property. And this goes both ways. One, you can make more money since you do not have to share it; what you sell it for is what you get. Very appealing. Second, if you are in a hurry to sell, you can cut down the price pretty hard. Sure, you won’t make some extra money, but you can dump the property and move on. How many times were you super close to selling but couldn’t because you still needed a hefty cut to pay the real estate agent? It has happened to me and my family quite a few times.
The next pro depends on the person, as I prefer having one, but some people actually prefer to not have a middleman when conducting business. Some sellers just prefer to meet and chat with buyers and negotiate directly with them, which is fine. It is preferential. However, it is true that there are some shady realtors that will not act in the seller’s best interest, meaning that people are better off without “that” middleman.
Final thoughts
Hopefully, after reading this you now know what approach you should take.
I’ll step forward and say that, in my case, I rather prefer depending on a real estate agent. They are professionals, with specific training and a big network. This is especially true when you find one that you trust. You really feel that you are being taken care of, despite the cut that you need to pay at the end. Also, I hate wasting time with paperwork!
However, if you enjoy doing things by yourself and learning about the housing market and its intricacies, then they cut you will save from not resorting to a realtor might just be a nice paycheck and make it totally worth it for you.
