Three Things You Should Know About Your Real Estate Agent

When the time comes to sell a home, we put an awful lot of faith into the hands of a real estate agent. Real estate agents can add great value and make selling a home a great and profitable experience, but choosing the right agent is essential to a successful home sale. Not all realtors are created equal. Especially in a housing market like we’re in today, an effective real estate agent can make all the difference between a house selling at an acceptable price and a house sitting on the market for several months.

There are several things you should understand about working with realtors that will help you to have realistic expectations for the sale of your home.

- Realtors are Marketing Your Home and Yourselves: A good realtor will make you think that your home is the only one they are trying to sell. The truth is that realtors are usually thinking several sales ahead. As much as they market your home, they are also marketing themselves. Their name is on every sign and advertisement. An open house is designed to lure buyers into your home, but it’s also a chance for your real estate agent to audition for an audience of potential new customers. There’s nothing wrong with a realtor marketing themselves, but don’t be afraid to remind them that your home should be the one in the spotlight.

- You’re Not the Only One With a Target Price: Commissions aren’t coming as often for realtors today as they were a few years ago. When you agree to allow a real estate agent to list your house, that agent will have an expectation for the kind of commission that the sale will generate. If low offers come in, the realtor may not be motivated to discuss those offers with you even with the legal obligation to do so. When these offers do get discussed, there is real incentive for the realtor to dissuade a seller from accepting an offer that would result in a smaller commission. As the seller, you need to accept the best offer for your situation.

- Fees are Always Negotiable: The standard fee that a realtor takes for selling a home is 3%. An agent representing the buyer also usually gets 3% so the seller is giving 6% of the proceeds of the sale to realtors. These fees are not set in stone however and some realtors are in need of a sale badly enough that they will take a point or two out of the commission. The easiest way to ask for a discount is to use the same realtor on the sale side and the purchase side of your move. If you’re selling a home and buying another in the same area, you’re realtor is likely to work for you without taking the full 3% on both sides of the transaction.

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