Everyone needs a relator. Whether you are buying or selling, you do not want to take on this battle on your own. Not only will you be too involved in everything, but you may also miss important things that could cost you more money and time during the process. One of the most common examples of this is knowing whether or not a house is worth viewing. While that may seem like something you can do on your own, you will soon notice that half the properties you visit are not really interesting in working with anyone who is not ready to come in near asking price.
Some homeowners will not be interested in coming down from their asking price, even by a little bit and if that’s the case, visiting the property is a waste of time. Another waste of time your realtor will spare you from is if you are selling a house and having to deal with people who are just firing random numbers at you without having the financing in place to actually pay it. This is why having a realtor is important, not only to save the time, but to save yourself from working with someone who is not a legitimate option.
Surprising Things Your Realtor Does For You
People love to think that the world of real estate is easy. The truth is that for every sale that goes smoothly, there are nine others that are absolutely ridiculous. A variety of things can happen from unreasonable buyers to unreasonable sellers. This is why it makes sense to have your own realtor who can manage the transaction for you and also handle communication. Here’s what your realtor will do for you behind the scenes and they will do it better than anyone else:
- Recommendation on renovations: If you are selling a property and you are not sure when to list, your realtor will be able to go over areas that need your attention. Their recommendations on fixes, renovations or other things you can do will not only raise the value of the property, but help you to sell the property faster. At the same time, if you are buying, their attention to detail can spot things you may have missed and help you know whether or not you have a case for offering less when you make your initial offer.
- Manages the other realtor: Always remember that the other realtor literally works for the person you are buying from or selling to. They are not interested in doing you any favors and if you are selling, they will not focus on managing their client as much. That’s where your realtor comes in. They will handle all communications and ensure that everything is on the level as you navigate decision after decision.
- Handles advertising of the listing: While real estate apps are extremely popular, they do not always drive in the real buyers as much as other sites and social media will. The reason is because you can gain a lot of interest from doing your own advertising, but you may not see any real prospects from it. Your realtor knows where to advertise to people who are seriously interested in buying right now and make sure they are qualified before wasting your time.
- Manages investors: One of the most frustrating aspects of selling a home is dealing with investors. These people are focused on one thing, getting the cheapest deal possible because at the end, the home will just be something they look to sell down the road. Their goal is to offer you as little as they can for the property and hope that you become desperate and decide to take the offer. However, a good realtor doesn’t just push investors away, they show them the value of a property and why it’s in their best interest to raise their offer to something reasonable. Sure, they may be paying more for the property now, but if they can rent the property out sooner or sell it in a year for more money, it’s worth paying more now rather than covering the cost of major renovations.
- Gives you realistic projections: Each market is different and that means you may not know what to expect. Knowing whether a buyer is serious or not, what to expect from a process and what you will be called on to do are all things you cannot know unless you are working with an experienced realtor. This is a sounding board that you can call on to tell you what you need to know, especially as you are figuring out important decisions based on the information you are provided with.
- Helps you set a realistic asking price: Setting an asking price is harder than you think. If you go too low you are not going to get as high a profit on the property. However, if you go too high, your property will sit on the market far longer than you wanted.
- Permit research: One thing people always overlook when they are buying a home is to check whether or not any renovations in the last twenty years or so has been done under a permit with the city or county. Knowing that a new pool or kitchen was done and meets code is important as the new owner of the property is responsible for the house as is, regardless of how long they’ve owned the property or whether or not they oversaw the renovations.
- Search different areas: If you are new to an area you may not know where the best places are to look. An experienced realtor can help you navigate the areas based on your preferences such as good schools, quite areas to live, places that are near attractions and so forth. They can also show you areas where homes have strong resale values and are booming with great promise over the next decade.
- Minimize communication: It may not sound like a big deal, but having a buyer calling you ten times a day with dozens of questions can get annoying, especially if they are not really interested or qualified to purchase the property. This is why having a realtor to manage the communication and cut everything down to the most important factors is so valuable and it can help you avoid having to worry about making a decision on impulse.
- Minimize demands or requests: Whenever you are selling a property, the buyer will usually have demands. Some will be reasonable and some will be outrageous. For example, the buyer may ask if you have the house tented for termites before they purchase it. While this may be a reasonable offer, you are the one covering the cost which is why it may not be something you are interested in doing. This is where your realtor can help you determine if it’s worth accepting the request or telling the buyer no.
Realtors have the ability to streamline the process of buying or selling a home in ways that we cannot appreciate because much of the work is done without us even knowing. If you are not experienced in this process, it’s recommended that you start with hiring your realtor before making any decisions. They can navigate you through each part of the process and help you avoid making any mistakes.
