The Importance of Using an Experienced Agent When You Sell Your Home

Selling a home isn't a simple as cleaning up the interior and exterior and placing a "For Sale" sign in the yard. There many things that go into the sale of a home which are largely unseen by the general public. Market analysis, marketing the property, networking in certain circles and negotiating with potential buyers takes a great deal of time--and expertise. When homeowners go it alone and sell buy-owner or "FSBO", for-sale-by-owner, they could be making a number of mistakes and not even be aware of it.

Marketing

As mentioned, a "For Sale" sign isn't sufficient to market a home for sale. There is a whole universe of potential buyers across the street, over county lines, in other states and even other countries. Experienced agents start the marketing process by looking at a home through a potential buyer's eyes. What they see leads them to form recommendations to the seller. A property's salability is based on this analysis. It's important to know not only the history of a home but its competition on the next street over or in surrounding neighborhoods.

Advertising

Advertising is large part of marketing. It's important and critical to know where to feature the property and what circles to introduce a particular home. This greatly increases a property's strategic exposure, making it visible to the very audience which is most likely to act. With an experienced agent selling a property, the home will be made available to other brokerages and agents. And that's a huge advantage considering over 50 percent of homes are sold in cooperative transactions, according to Realtor. com. These are transactions involving an agent other than the seller's bringing in the buyer.

Security and Qualifying

Selling a home means making it accessible to complete strangers. Complete strangers which may or may not be qualified to buy a home. Many sellers feel uncomfortable opening their home to strangers on a whim. But having a seller's agent means not having to restructure schedules in order to sell a house. A good seller's agent knows how to vet buyers and assess their level of enthusiasm, not to mention their ability to secure financing.

Negotiations

Selling a home is an emotional event. Memories abound. And homeowner bias often clouds judgment about their property's actual market value. A good seller's agent ta