What Does A Real Estate Seller’s Agent Do?

There are some home owners who choose to sell without the services of a seller’s agent. The real estate industry calls these types of sellers, ‘For Sale by Owner’ or FSBO. If you are in the FSBO category, then you may find the information below useful.

For some FSBO, you can save a lot of money by not using a Real Estate agent. But you should examine this issue carefully as this decision is more complex than it appears. Below are some of the issues that seller’s should consider before making a decision about selling their own without the services of an agent.

Some background information is necessary at this point. In most real estate transactions, there are two agents involved: a seller’s agent and a buyer’s agent. While not always the case, most often, the seller pays the commission of both agents. A seller who is selling their home without the services of an agent to represent them, usually still has to pay the buyer’s agent who brings a qualified buyer to the seller. So in this sense, a FSBO is only saving half of the commission they would otherwise pay.

With this background in mind, let’s consider some of the services that many seller’s agents provide:

1.Hold Open Houses to show your home to prospective buyers.
2.Mail out catchy postcards and flyers to prospective buyers and other agents to advertise your property.
3.Place newspaper advertisements about your property.
4.Install an eye-catching sign in your yard advertising that your property is for sale.
5.Advertise your home in the MLS and other Internet Web sites.
6.Respond to inquires about your property in a timely manner.
7.Respond to questions from agents and prospective home buyers about your property.
8.Review and summarize the advantages and disadvantages of any offers on your property.
9.Prepare and distrubute required seller disclosure documents on your behalf.
10. Be your guide throughout the home selling process.

There are many other services that seller’s agents can provide. The list above is just a sample. All these services take time, money and/or expertise. If you choose to sell your home on your own, keep in mind that there are many tasks that have to be completed. And when the market slows down, the above tasks may have to be repeated many times until you find a buyer for your home.

Hiring A Real Estate Agent

ust because you initially decide to sell your home by owner does not mean that you have to stay within this situation forever. Each year, thousands of people decide to sell on their own, but end up hiring a real estate agent within a few weeks. In fact, some people give up even quicker than that. Of course, you should not plan on giving up and hiring an agent, but you never know what is going to happen.

If you have had enough of the for sale by owner process, you should consider hiring a real estate agent. There are many things that they can do for you that you cannot do for yourself. First off, when you talk to a real estate agent they will be able to tell you what they can do as far as marketing is concerned. And this is something that most for sale by owner sellers have a problem with.

You should also keep in mind that real estate agents have a long list of clients who are in the market for a new home. For this reason, they may be able to make a few phone calls and find the right buyer in no time at all. Even though you will have to give up a commission check to your real estate agent, this sure beats waiting around for months on end for a buyer to find you.

If you are going to hire a real estate agent make sure that you do your homework. No matter where you live, chances are that there are hundreds of agents doing business in your area. Many of them will represent the same company, but if you live in a bigger city, there is a good chance that there are several real estate companies in your area. When you search around it will help to ensure that you get set up with the best real estate agent for your home.

It is never too late to get help when selling your home. Even if you have had your home on the market by owner for a year, you can always back out and hire a real estate agent. You may want to work at doing things yourself, but all in all, sometimes this is just not possible. If you get the feeling that hiring a real estate agent is the best way to go, there is nothing wrong with making a change.