1. Education, Experience and Regulations
If you are buying or selling realestate your do not need to know all the regulations, rules or what comes next if you use the services of a Realtor.By hiring a a real estate professional who does, you get all the benefits, without the hard work of having to spend years developing your skills. Henry Ford once said that when you hire people who are smarter than you are, it proves you are smarter than they are. Why not hire a person with more education and experience than you? We’re all looking for more precious time in our lives, and hiring pros gives us that time.
2. Realtors are Buffers
Realtors take the spam out of your property showings and visits. They basically seperate the tire kickers from the serious potentials when you are selling and they eliminate the dogs from all the potential properties available when you are buying. If you’re a buyer of new homes, your agent will whip out her sword and keep the builder’s agents at bay, preventing them from biting or nipping at your heels. If you’re a seller, your agent will filter all those phone calls that lead to nowhere and try to induce serious buyers to immediately write an offer.
3. Neighborhood Knowledge
Realtors either possess intimate knowledge or they know where to find the industry buzz about your neighborhood. They can identify comparable sales and hand these facts to you, in addition to pointing you in the direction where you can find more data on schools, crime or demographics. For example, you may know that a home down the street was on the market for $350,000, but an agent will know it had upgrades and sold at $285,000 after 65 days on the market and after twice falling out of escrow. Details and access to information you cannot find can potentially save your thousands regardless of which side of a sale you are on.
4. Price Guidance
Contrary to what some people believe, Realtors do not set the prices for sellers or buyers. However, will help you to make the right choices for yourself. Selling Realtors will ask buyers to weigh all the data supplied to them and to choose a price. Then based on market supply, demand and the conditions, the agent will devise a marketing and negotiation strategy.
5. Market Conditions Information
Real estate agents can disclose market conditions, which will govern your selling or buying process. Many factors determine how you will proceed. Information such as the average per square foot cost of similar homes, median and average sales prices, and ratios of list-to-sold prices, among other criteria, will have a huge bearing on what you ultimately decide to do. How you proceed with the guidance of a Realtor is a more direct path from start to finish.
6. Professional Networking
Realtors network with other professionals, both inside their industry and outside of it, many of whom provide services that you will need to buy or sell. Due to legal liability, many realtors will hesitate to recommend a certain individual or company over another, but they do know which vendors have a reputation for efficiency, competency and competitive pricing. realtors can, however, give you a list of references with whom they have worked and provide background information to help you make a wise selection.
7. Negotiation Skills & Confidentiality
Top producing realtors negotiate well because, unlike most buyers and sellers, they can remove themselves from the emotional aspects of the transaction and because they are skilled. It’s part of their job description. Good Realtors are not messengers, delivering buyer’s offers to sellers and vice versa. They are professionals who are trained to present their client’s case in the best light and agree to hold client information confidential from competing interests. They are your personal inside edge to getting a great deal.
8. Handling Volumes of Paperwork
Only a few short years ago a single page deposit receipts, or simple offer were prevalent. Today the sale of a property in Canada can run into the hundreds of pages. This includes submissions to your counterpart in a sale, their lawyer, various levels of government (federal, provincial, municipal, and even a community board). Most real estate files average thicknesses from one to three inches of paper in this day and age. One tiny mistake or omission could land you in court or cost you thousands. In some cases could sink the sale completely. A Realtor know how to swim through this obstacle course with ease.
9. Answer Questions After Closing
Even the smoothest transactions that close without complications can come back to haunt. For example, when paying taxes up to a year later a missing piece of paperwork can be very troublesome. A call to your Realtor can straighten out the confusion. Many questions can pop up that were overlooked in the excitement of closing. Good Realtors stand by ready to assist. Worthy and honest Realtors don’t leave you in the dust to fend for yourself.
10. Future Business
The basis for an Realtor’s success and continued career in real estate is referrals. very few, if any, would survive if their livelihood was dependent on consistently drumming up new business. This emphasis gives agents strong incentives to make certain clients are happy and satisfied. It also means that any Realtor who stays in the business will be there for you when you need to hire an agent again. Many will periodically mail market updates to you to keep you informed and to stay in touch.