Why Buyers, Sellers, Landlords Want Our Blog to Get Found: BEST DEALS
When buyers, sellers and landlords are looking for a local real estate company to help them buy, sell or rent out their home, they are recognizing that the real estate agent's web of connections matters to get them the "best deal." By the end of this post, I hope to explain that you will get your best deal by using a local, full-time, connected agent whose website and blog posts get found.
What is the "Best Deal"?
For buyers, the best deal is buying a home at a payment they can afford. In a seller's market, where the number of buyers is high, and sellers are receiving multiple offers, the "best deal" might just be getting your offer accepted instead of the other two, four, ten or twenty buyers who offered! Are you paying the least for that home? Maybe not; however, you can be sure with an experienced loan officer and real estate agent, that you are getting the home for a payment with which you are comfortable, meaning you can afford the home and you got in in time to accomplish your goals (down-sizing to Palm Springs, getting your family into the Murrieta Valley or Temecula Valley school district, having a home at your new job or, for military, duty station, etc.) When it's a buyer's market, with fewer buyers than sellers, of course you as buyer would want the "best deal" to include a discounted price.
For sellers, the best deal in a seller's market (defined above) means getting top dollar within the time frame you need to have sold the home. Do you have a year to wait for a buyer willing to pay top dollar for a distinctive home, or do you need to get across the country in time for your new job to start? Again, a solid, experienced real estate agent becomes the key to getting that best deal.
What about selling the home by yourself, or For Sale By Owner? The National Association of Realtors statistics show, year after year, that FSBO sellers consistently sell at prices about 20% below "market prices". Why put "market prices" in quotes? Because "the market" refers to homes sold the vast majority of the time by folks using a real estate agent and paying a 5 or 6% commission (commissions are negotiable). When a FSBO seller thinks he/she can cut out the commission and save 6%, there are only 3 types of potential buyers who come along:
1. Buyers who are experienced investors and understand the seller is going to sell eventually (if without a real estate agent) at well below (again, on average, 18.65% below!) the price that the investor would have to pay if the home were sold on "the market".
2. Buyers who are just experienced enough to hope to save the commission as well. They own their own home and want to buy an investment property, so they are in no hurry. They are open to dealing with the difficulty of a seller representing him/herself -- difficulty that typically adds time and headache haggling over small amounts, while, meanwhile, again, the FSBO seller at the end of the day ends up selling for 20% below what they could have gotten in the market that uses the expertise of agents.
3. Buyers who really need to move into the area with a deadline to get a home as part of their life changing. These buyers are military folks with PCS orders to the area, or civilians with new jobs nearby; they need to get their children enrolled in schools and need a finalized sale to do so, etc. These buyers do not have the expertise to represent themselves in the largest investment most will ever make (in Murrieta and Temecula, usually close to $275,000 and upwards), nor do they have the time to wait for a long, difficult transaction which FSBO sales by and large are. These buyers want an agent to help make the process smooth and protect them in terms of all the legal disclosures, inspections, etc. Given that FSBO owners are trying their hardest not to pay real estate agents, you can see why these buyers usually are not being lined up at the FSBO seller's door! Click here for more statistics from NAR on FSBO owners.
For landlords who want to rent out their property, the best deal is a tenant paying toward the top of market rent and, most importantly, paying the rent! So, first, the tenant has to be found. How does an individual owner find tenants? It's a layout of money for online ads, signs, etc. It is not a lot more money to pay a property manager who already has an internet presence with multiple homes that they manage, so that they have multiple calls daily from people who "need a place" and "found them on the internet". A full time real estate broker who is connected to the community locally as well as the world linked via internet will expose the listing to far more potential tenants and have a screening process in place, than a homeowner who starts from scratch every year or two when there is a vacancy.
You can see where this is going, right? We are local, experienced and connected agents both with our local communities near Camp Pendleton, Miramar and San Diego bases as well as the Twentynine Palms and Yucca Valley areas. Feel free to call us for a free, no obligation consultation about how to get the best deal you can. For renting, buying, selling, broker-owner Frank Delzompo is a font of information, ready to help you at 951-326-7330.
