Selling a house is easy...
I was reading an article over the weekend how tech companies are trying to set up systems to remove the real estate agent from the transaction and lower costs for the seller. Of course the savings when you delve deeper are more limited.
First you need to hire a photographer, many agents pay for this out of their own pockets, then you need a real estate attorney to handle the paperwork, your agent would naturally handle and provide all the required paperwork for you, and finally if the buyer comes with a buyers agent you need to provide compensation. (Even in this tech model the buyers agent is paid by the seller not by the buyer.)
Then, you need to be available to answer phone calls, to attend showings, to negotiate, and to continue to answer phone calls and questions about the property after it is under contract. Yes, you do make some savings, but not that much because you are paying for listing the home as well. Add to this getting the home priced correctly so it will sell and you may save some money on a listing but lose a lot more on pricing it wrongly.
What many people do not realize is, selling the house is the easy part. I admit, in some markets this varies and the marketing skills of the agent are also important, but it is much more than that.
Setting the price, knowing the other homes that buyers are likely to see and their strengths and weaknesses compared to the selling property is part of what your listing agent brings to the table. Your agent qualifies your buyers, before you are under contract with someone who cannot get a mortgage. Then you are paying for their experience with negotiations, and I don't mean the offer to split the difference here. You are paying for their knowledge of real estate and the procedures, providing the required forms, keeping buyers to the time table for the different inspections, you are paying for their knowledge of mortgages and local providers who can step in and rescue a deal when a buyers financing goes astray. You are paying for their directory of contractors who can help you out when something needs to be repaired following inspections. You are paying for their experience of dealing with appraisers so the home actually appraises for the contract price or above.
This is what you are paying your agent for, not for listing the home in the MLS, putting up a sign in the yard and simply getting a contract. A computer program can never provide all this, however much data is entered because it is a machine and many issues about data are subjective or else we would all be living in the same box home. People's choices of decoration, maintenance, etc affect the price of a home and how it will sell.
This is why we love our job, and why we make every effort to see as many homes as we can in our local market each week, often with clients but many times previewing homes for clients so they can make the best use of their time.
So, if you are looking for a Main Line Realtor, to sell your home or help you find the perfect home along the Philadelphia Main Line give us a call and let's discuss what your needs and goals are for making a move.
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