Proudly Serving The Atlanta Metro Area For Over 20 Years
Top 5 Reasons For Hiring A Listing Agent
(1.5% Full-Representation Service)
Seller's agents offer more than simply listing a property on the MLS. Here are five key reasons, among others, highlighting the benefits of working with an agent.
Negotiation Experience
When it comes to selling your home, the art of negotiation is not to leave money on the table while closing the deal. Even after a seller agrees to an offer, a homebuyer might return within a specified period requesting credits and price reductions which will affect your profit.
For instance, if the home inspection uncovers repairs, it's typical for the buyer to seek credits and/or a reduction in the price. Understanding when to accept, reject or come up with a compromise is vital in maintaining the deal or having it fall apart.
Remember, real estate negotiations continue beyond accepting an offer. We will negotiate the dozens of sticking points that keep transactions from closing—including repairs, closing costs, timelines, inspection issues, and more. As your real estate agent, we will collaborate with the buyer's agent, inspectors, and the closing attorney, among others, until the transaction is finalized.
FSBOs Spend More Time On The Market & Sell For Less
It is a known fact that every year agent-assisted homes sell for more than FSBO properties. Last year (2023), agent-assisted homes sold from 58k-100k+ higher than FSBOs even after expenses.
FSBOs also take longer to sell due to the limited options available for marketing. If you are relying on platforms like Zillow (and Trulia) to find a REAL buyer, you may be waiting for a while. Although Zillow has high traffic, their default search is where most people look for homes to buy and only MLS properties are shown in the search results. FSBOs are in a separate category now.
So, if you are trying to save money on the commission fees but lose money from the sales transaction, you will lose more money than you save. And even if you don't have a timeframe to get your property sold, the longer your property is out there, the lower the offers are. Dragging out the sales process can also be a bit stressful and annoying due to the steps involved for finding the right buyer.
Finding Buyers
Last year (2023) almost 90% of all buyers used an agent to purchase their home. The remaining percentage were mainly investors and people who knew each other, etc.
If you are trying to avoid commission fees on the buyer and/or selling side and you list your property on places like Zillow to find buyers with no agent, the reality is, there is a very small pool of REAL buyers to choose from.
And when you add in the fact that Zillow sells FSBO leads to agents, makes it harder to contact you, and have eliminated FSBOs from the most popular search results, this makes it even more difficult to find buyers with no agent. And if they didn't have an agent and happen to click on the BIG 'contact agent' button or use the email feature, it won't be long before they do!
And if that's not enough to deal with, you still have to overcome the fact that most buyer's agents don't look at FSBO properties nor will they recommend them to their clients even if they do find your listing and want their agent to set up a showing. It's well known within the industry that most buyer's agents don't like to work with FSBOs for various reasons.
Pricing Your Property
Pricing your property right from the start is VERY important. One of the main mistakes owners make is getting the pricing wrong. In addition to poor marketing, nothing prevents a property from getting sold like incorrect pricing. And changing the price of a property higher or lower is never a good idea unless it absolutely needs to be done. Anytime you change the price, especially within short periods of time, it sends a negative message, and opens the door to low-ball offers the same way it does if your property sits on the market too long. And if the property is too high, most people won't even bother trying to negotiate a lower price.
Your pricing strategy can’t just depend on what the house up the street sold for, your opinion, AVMs (Automated Valuation Models – like Zestimate), etc. Pricing your house based on the market, the property, features, upgrades, the neighborhood, surrounding area, etc., is IMPORTANT. Also, AVMs do not have access to information that agents are privy to. This inside information is helpful in determining the back story of homes and the journey of them being sold, the area, etc.
AVM estimates are not intended to take the place of a more thorough property evaluation that involves a detailed comparative market analysis (CMA) and a walk-through (if needed) from an experienced agent, (or getting an appraisal). This is an essential step when it comes to pricing the property right.
We will do a detailed CMA on your property to determine where the price range should be.
Legal Liability
Let’s face it, we are living in a litigious society, so what homeowner wants to be a target of a lawsuit? When you decide to go the FSBO route, you are essentially, 'on your own'. So, if you make any mistakes with a major legal transaction like selling a property, you may have to pay for that mistake, and it can be expensive and devastating depending on the type of mistake you make.
When you hire an agent, you will have legal protection due to the type of insurance we are required to carry for issues that can come up when dealing with selling a property. Experience also matters because this is what helps to avoid the legal pitfalls that come with selling a property.
The Bottom Line
FSBOs accounted for only 7% of the homes that sold nationwide last year (2023). Over the last decade or so, the number of people going the FSBO route has dropped dramatically. There are several MAJOR reasons for this.
In addition to the 5 reasons, we just discussed, there are other reasons you should consider using an agent to represent you. For example, FSBOs usually list on Zillow because it is the top website for traffic, and one of the few platforms to use. But Zillow is also tops for real estate scams. FSBOs are perceived as risky, so most buyers (except investors) won't take the chance due to this long-term skepticism. They are more comfortable buying a property represented by a licensed agent. There is also safety issues to consider. Agents use Supra lockboxes, have strict protocols, etc., for this very reason. Letting random people in your home who claim to be SERIOUS buyers is never a good idea unless they have a REAL agent who has already vetted them. Then there is the daunting paperwork and legal jargon to deal with. If you are not well versed in dealing with real estate contracts, various disclosure forms, understanding contingencies, etc., and make a mistake, it can be costly not to mention get you stuck in a contract you should have never signed and can't get out of.
When you consider all of the reasons we discussed, 1.5% is not a bad deal. And you will still be saving a lot of money. Let the professionals handle everything.
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