With so many tools, resources, and companies available to help you sell your Rock Hill or Fort Mill home by yourself, many people wonder whether or not it’s worth it to higher an agent. They ask themselves, “Why would I want to pay someone up to 6% to do something I could do myself?”
While it can certainly be tempting to view the sale of your home this way, there are often many things you don’t consider that a competent real estate agent can help you understand and navigate. In fact, if the purchase or sale of your home is the biggest financial transaction you’ll ever make, do you really want to go it alone?
Here are 7 reasons why you might want to strongly consider working with a licensed real estate agent:
1. Market Knowledge
First off, a competent real estate professional will have the necessary knowledge to help you decide on a listing price that will generate a quick sale, they can help you decide what improvements to your home will help it sell faster, and they can give you insight into other homes that have sold in your area so you can be sure you’re home stands out from the competition.
2. Negotiating with Home Buyers or Sellers
Top real estate agents can really pay off for you when it comes time to negotiate with either a home buyer or seller because they’re able to remove themselves emotionally from the transaction. Often times, when someone tries to either buy or sell a home for themself, they get caught up in the emotion of the transaction. By having a professional involved on your behalf, you have a third party working on your behalf.
3. Serves as a Buffer
If you’ve ever bought or sold a home before then you know how stressful the process can be. A good buyer’s agent will take the time to understand your likes, dislikes, wants, and needs so that when the time comes to start looking at properties you don’t waste any time looking at homes you’re not interested in.
The same holds true with a good sellers agent. In this case, they’ll serve as your shield from all the tire-kickers and nosey-neighbors that just want to poke around. They should make sure that your home is being seen by serious, truly-interested buyers looking to purchase your home.
4. Handles Volumes of Paperwork
Unfortunately, we live in a society where lawyers are an extremely well fed bunch. The number of lawsuits continues to rise with no end in sight and as a result, in most legal transactions every precaution is taken to ensure both sides are protected. Well, as you can imagine, this produces a mountain of paperwork that must be dealt with.
Now, if you make the decision to NOT work with a real estate agent, you’re opening up yourself to the volumes of paperwork that will be produced in order to ensure the purchase or sale of your home goes smoothly. However, with a real estate agent on your side, it’s their job to wade through these volumes and make sure all the t’s are crossed and the i’s dotted in your favor.
5. Answers Questions After Closing
Even after all the signatures have been scrawled and the keys exchanged, questions might arise days, weeks, or even months after the closing. With a competent real estate professional on your side, instead of you having to dig up the answers, one quick call to your agent and things should be resolved. As any good real estate agent will tell you, even though the sale is complete, that doesn’t mean the work is done.
So, as you weigh the options of whether to navigate the oft-times turbulent waters of real estate alone or involve a professional, just keep in mind all the hassles and headaches involved in the process. If you’ve got a big bottle of aspirin and don’t mind the endless hassles, go for it.
Otherwise, save yourself the trouble and let a real estate professional help you buy or sell your next Rock Hill, Fort Mill, or Tega Cay, SC home!
