Home Sweet Home! Most people would say that in your lifetime your biggest financial investment would be your home. I would say that is true, that the biggest financial investment most of us Americans will make in our lifetime is buying a home. If that is the case when selling or buying a home who do you trust with the biggest financial investment of your lifetime?
As a homeowner myself, it’s very difficult to just trust anyone with such a huge transaction. Many of us have saved for most of our lives to have enough money to have a down payment for our dream home. Even if it’s not our dream home, it could be just a place that we want to call home, until we can afford our dream home.
You need a Realtor for this transaction, whether you are buying or selling a home. This will be something you want to do right the first time. Buying and selling a home includes tons of technical documents and having a realtor to help you navigate through this without making major mistakes is a lifesaver and can be less costly to you.
Who do you want working for you?
When interviewing an agent you want to go with the one that is not afraid of being honest with you. An agent should go above and beyond for their client, as long as it’s legal. I would say an agent that puts their clients before their commission is a keeper. Realtors have inside knowledge about pricing for neighborhoods and can direct you to a neighborhood that you may not have heard of, but one that will fit your needs and with your perfect home.
Realtors are trained to negotiate to get the best deal for you, whether you’re buying or selling your home. You may not be the only buyer looking at a particular home. A Realtor can help you negotiate whether their are contingencies or other factors to deal with.
Putting your house on the market, then get a Realtor, the more people that see your home the better chance of selling it faster and for a better price. Once you list with a Realtor you have your home listed on many websites where buyers are able to view all the information and photos of your listing.
Before you agent leaves your home and before you sign that contract, you should know what to expect from your agent. How he or she will communicate with you. Whether on a daily basis every couple of days etc. You should understand what will happen once your home is sold . He or she should have gone over the contract so that you understand exactly who will see your home and where will it be seen, whether through online website and which ones.
Marketing should be your main focus. If the agent is not marketing your home properly then no one will see it and it will not sell as quickly as you may want it to. Your agent should provide you with a detailed marketing plan or strategy on how to sell your home. And how they will show your home.
Just remember not every real estate agent is a Realtor. A Realtor is someone who belongs to the National Association of Realtors®. Realtors are held to a higher ethical standard than licensed agents and follow the Realtors® Code of Ethics. Realtors also have access to the MLS.
Realtors want to work with their clients to get the best outcome for their listings. We wear a lot of different hats through out the whole process of selling or buying a home. Our job is to make sure that our client is happy and is getting the best deal possible. We hold our client’s hand through out this whole emotional process and we want to make this process an easy one for them. It’s a job we don’t take lightly.
So when thinking about hiring a Realtor, don’t think about the commission they will be making. Realtors work hard and earn their commission. Realtors pay out of their pocket for marketing, spend time researching listings, driving around, doing showings, taking professional photos/videos and being on call for you at all times. We take pride in what we do.
