My wife and I recently decided to sell our home and thought that with how much information
there was on the Internet that it should be something we could do ourselves. We figured there were so many websites and online guides that we could save ourselves money by simply listing our house ourselves and finding our own new home through online listings. I wish I knew now how much time and money we were going to waste in this misguided idea. Real estate agents are professionals who have a number of skill sets beyond simply finding a house to buy. They work hard and have the knowledge and experience necessary to navigate the housing market.
The number one reason I can give for using a real estate agent is that there are a multitude of laws that govern buying and selling a home. From securing a loan to escrow and title transfers there are laws and paperwork that require more than a cursory knowledge to understand. Securing a realtor to take care of these many aspects is more than just a good idea it is essential to success.
Besides the legal issues real estate agents have experience and knowledge of the housing market and its history. They know what price the market can bear if you are selling a house and they also know whether it is a good time to buy if you are in the market. A good realtor is not out to make a quick sale but rather to help facilitate the sale or your old home or the purchase of your new one. They know that if they satisfy the customer they will make a client for life. When we finally hired a professional we discovered we were vastly over pricing our property for the market at the time and she recommended we hold off on putting it on the market for a few months and we did. We ended up selling it for almost our original asking price.
Real estate agents also have a complete knowledge of the areas they are selling houses in. after we sold our house we were looking at a place in our price range in a neighborhood that seemed okay. When I approached our realtor about it she told us that although the neighborhood is not bad it is not in an area with access to good schools and also that there was a planned highway expansion near-by. This tip saved us from having to send our kids to an inferior school or commute them as well as not subjecting ourselves to the noise of a busy interstate.
This is just a sample of the many benefits afforded by hiring a good real estate agent. The headaches and stress I saved by going with a realtor were completely worth it. She made it an enjoyable and great experience to change homes.