SHOULD YOU USE A REALTOR?  DEFINITELY!

Published 07-22-2019 by Rico Castillo

Why should you use a Realtor?  Let me count the ways.

Reasons To Use A Realtor®

Just to name a few . . .  A good, experienced Realtor® will save you ... 

• headaches, 
  
• stress and 
  
• money.  
  
• More importantly, a good, experienced Realtor® will be up to date on legal laws and will shield you from potential legal lawsuit

For most of us buying a home is the largest purchase of our life,  It’s exciting, but it can be stressful.

When you use a Realtor, It doesn’t have to be.  

A good, experienced Realtor® will make the process less stressful and it can actually be fun and easy.

The Realtor® will work behind the scenes and you never know how much work is actually being done to make it a stress free and easy process for you.  All you’ll see is the end result that you want.

Sellers Definitely Included

When you use a Realtor all the above applies to sellers as well. 

An aggressive, transparent marketing by an experienced agent along with guidance on properly pricing your home based on facts, will help you sell your home quicker and potentially make you more money.

Your real estate agent or Realtor can make the selling process seamless and definitely less stressful by guiding you and consistently communicate with you all the way through from start to finish.

Working with the right Realtor really matters.  So, make sure you use a Realtor who has experienced and have closed many transactions so you won’t be one of those horror stories you've heard about when buying or selling a home.

It can be a fun and enjoyable experience.  Especially if your Realtor® really loves their job and have your best interest in mind (meaning s/he is a fiduciary).

So, Why Use A Realtor®?

Aside from the list above, when you use a Realtor who is experienced and full time can make the entire buying or selling process easier for you.  When they are full time… 

• they will have time to go out of their way for you, 
  
• stay in constant communication, 
  
• act immediately if an emergency arises 
  
• and pretty much do almost everything for you - almost.  
  

There are things that you have to do for the transaction that, by law, can’t be done by your Realtor®.

They.  Will.  Earn.  Your.  Business!

We know there will always be that 7% (actual number from NAR) who are the DIYers, the FSBOs or For Sale By Owners, who do not want to use a Realtor.  

Those people have their reasons for doing it themselves, but the facts from NAR say that they make less money from their transactions compared to actually going through a Realtor®, for the reasons that I’ll outline below.

The NAR’s survey showed FSBOs sold an average of $65,000 less than if they used a Realtor®.  Most of these FSBO transactions that did close, did so because the seller already knew the buyer or a relative of the buyer.

So, If you didn’t have a list of buyers handy, then the selling process could take much longer and you will actually have to do some work. 

Before decide to not use a Realtor and before you think about selling your home yourself - Ask yourself these questions:

1. Are you social media savvy?  
   
2. Can you compete with the Realtor® or agents in your area, in terms of marketing your home to the most # of buyers?  
   
3. Are you abreast of the current laws in the real estate industry in your area.  It would be good to know so you won’t get sued AFTER closing right?
   
4. Do you have a list of buyers who you can market to and let them know about your home?
   
5. What would you do if the buyer’s lender comes back and says the agreed upon purchase price is way over what your property is really worth, therefore, they can only lend your buyer$ $20,000.00 less than what you both agreed upon.  What would be your next step?
   

These are just some things to consider.

Here is another important question to consider - why would a buyer work with you and potentially go into a legal battle with you after the transaction closes because the paperwork was not done properly and they feel they’ve been sold a lemon, when using a Realtor® is FREE for them as a buyer?

Continue Reading Below

SLAM DUNK

For a buyer, it’s a slam dunk why they should use a Realtor.  Our services to our buyers are FREE.  Yes, it’s free.  The seller pays our commission as part of their costs.

This is only fair because the buyer has enough costs associated with their purchase as it is.

In the end, both sides spend about an equal amount.

For a seller, it’s a slam dunk as well, because depending on the experience, marketing skills and resources the agent has, the seller could make potentially make  more money as well as saving herself headache, stress and money.

More Reasons Why You Should Use A Realtor®

Let’s go over the list of why you should use a Realtor . . .

Aside for the last one on this list, the others apply to both the buyer and the seller sides.

Legal Protection

Most, if not all, real estate companies have rules and guidelines set up to minimize the chance of the company, their agents and their clients from legal uncertainty..

The larger companies, however, have deeper pockets and have more attorneys.  They have more legal resources to protect their clients.

This cannot be understated.  Being sued is not fun, but if you were to get sued, it helps to have a large company with deep pockets and a large number of experienced attorneys backing you.  

Don’t you agree?

Experience

I can’t say this enough … A real estate agent with a lot of experience goes hand in hand with legal protection.  A seasoned agent who has closed many transactions means they have gone through many situations in order for them to close those transactions.

I can guarantee you that they weren’t all smooth transactions.  However, those problem transactions did closed and the agent gained valuable experience, which they can use to avoid red flags in future transactions, thus helping you.

That’s the key.  They are able to see potential red flags and take care of it in advance, by either getting out of it or doing what’s necessary to take care of the situation before it blows up.

Negotiating Expertise

This goes hand in hand with experienced.  

One can study the art of negotiation, but until you are thrown in the line of fire and actually negotiating with another agent who is also looking out for their client’s best interest - you never really know how to properly respond to certain situations.

When you use a Relator who has closed many transactions, it means they’ve gone through many of these negotiation situations, which, again, can only benefit you.

Resources And Well Connected

The more resources your real estate agent has at his or her disposal, the better for you. 

This applies whether you’re a buyer or a seller.  Your agent can use his or her experience and vast resources to help you sell your home faster and for top dollar.  Or find you that dream home in the area and price range that works best for you.

Sure everyone has access to the local multiple listing service where most of the homes are listed.  But what about the homes that are not listed or the homes that are going to be listed soon and are willing to entertain offers now?

Most of us experienced Realtors will also have many connections to many things that you may need - from attorneys to contractors, etc.

Having many resources both the buyer and seller, but it really helps the seller more, by selling their home quicker (as long as it’s priced property, of course).

Company Support And Affiliated Partnerships

Company support goes hand in hand with the legal protection and having a lot of resources.  But it goes beyond that.  The personal support from our managing brokers and to all of the admin support really make it easy for you and only helps to make your overall experience a smooth and sometimes fun and easy transaction.

Most companies do have affiliated business relationships with other companies.  However, the larger ones have many more.  These businesses are owned by the”mother” company of both parties, which is meant to make your total experience even better - and possibly cheaper.

Wide Reach In Marketing

Do you know what my aggressive, transparent marketing can do for you?  You have a potential of having 12.7 millions eyes viewing your home on a monthly basis.  

That is a wide reach in marketing your home, don’t you think? 

Those potential views are from all over the world.

I have to be honest, most of that comes from the resources that my company gives me.

I can go through the numbers with you, but why make this article any longer than it needs to be.  I can just link it here.  But the numbers says we were also #1 in the Sacramento area as well, which comprises the counties of Placer, Yolo, El Dorado and Sacramento..

This figure was based on the numbers compiled by Metrolist, which owns the local Multiple Listing Services that all agents use to input their listings.  They are also the resource that Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia and others uses for all of the listings shown on their sites.

In Conclusion . . .

I am pretty certain you’ve heard many real estate horror stories.  Though they can’t all be avoided, when you use a Realtor, who has many years of experienced and have closed many transactions, they'll be able to see red flags in advance and minimize you being a member of the “real estate horror stories” group.

An agent who has done many transactions - and it doesn’t matter if the transactions are from representing the buyer side or the seller side - has gone through many different scenarios that can only help you avoid the traps of the ever growing mountain of paperwork that is full of legal jargon.

It helps if the company who your Realtor® works for has many resources in both the legal side as well as transactional resources.  It only protects you and make it easier to achieve your real estate goals.

Thanks for visiting.  Go through this site for the many tips and guides to help you navigate the complex real estate game.  

Read my About Me page and let’s talk about your real estate plans and let me earn your business.

See you around town!

PS: Let’s continue our conversation on my Facebook business page for tips, guides, insights on the real estate market in and around the Sacramento county area as well as some promotions or offers I may be running.   Let me know if there is something you’d like to know more about and I may write an article on it.

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