As my career in Real estate continues and I gain more and more experience in the field one thing has always stayed the same, people thinking they can be their own realtor. By this I mean people who believe that they do not need to use a realtor to sell or buy their home. Everytime I talk to someone who has decided that they do not want to use a realtor I am always a little surprised.
I understand that when buying or selling a house you want to capitalize on the amount of money earned/saved and the most obvious would be the comission you would pay a realtor to handle everything. My biggest question for those who believe they can do this on their own is why do you not want to use a realtor? I've received answers ranging from bad experiences with a realtor to my realtor friend said they will help for free. Which are all fine, no one has to use a realtor if they do not want to, however I think most people don't realize that no is obligated to have their best interest's in mind.
As a realtor we are obligated to provide our clients with full fiduciary duties and we should always do what is best for the client and not ourselves. We take hours upon hours of classes and training to stay up to date on rules and regulations and we have to renew our licenses every other year. We put a lot of time and effort into making sure we can serve our clients and give them the best home buying/selling experience of their lives.
There are so many horror stories about people who sell their homes by themselves thinking they will save money and they end up paying more in sellers assist than they ever should have. Another reason to use a realtor is because of the paperwork. The amount of forms and documents that need to be filled out properly and on time is mind boggling. I know I am a little biased considering I am a Realtor but I think for no other reason than having someone else fill out all of the paperwork, a realtor is well worth the money. A good realtor can easily tell you what every form means and what it represents and they can easily keep a file of everything you need and when it needs to be signed/completed.
There are also all of the things that need to be in place for a house to be sold, like the mortgage paperwork, and the inspections. Off the top of your head how many mortgage brokers do you know? How many home inspectors? Do you even know how to order a home inspection or what to do with the results of said inspection? A good realtor knows all of these things, they can tell you which home inspectors do the most thorough inspections, they know which mortgage lenders are the easiest to work with, they know how to respond to the inspection results, and they can help you formulate an offer on a home.
On the sellers side there is so much work that needs to be done for a listing. You need to market the listing, hold open houses, follow up with those who come through an open house, you need to find a buyer for the home. If you refuse to use a realtor how are you going to market the home? Realtors often hire professional photographers to come take pictures of the home, and then they are uploaded onto the MLS where every licensed realtor can see the listing. That is a lot of people who may have clients interested in your home! The MLS has everything, it has pictures, it has details, it tells you when the next open house is, and if you do not use a realtor you are missing out on all of this. You can pay a fee to join as a non member but that is a pretty hefty fee and it is not worth it.
There are hundreds of reasons as to why you should always use a realtor when buying or selling a home, these are just a few of the big ones. The biggest reason however is because by using a licensed professional you remove the headache, you remove the worry and the trouble that comes with a purchase this big. You can relax and let someone else handle it, someone who has your best interests in mind. Remove the headache and use a Realtor!
Thank you for reading, I hope you found this extremely useful and remember that it is not impossible to sell or buy a home on your own it is just more difficult. I would love to hear any feedback or answer any questions you might have. You can send me an email at kurtisvalett@kw.com and I would love to help!
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