Let A Professional Save You Time, Money And Headaches

Selling a home without professional representation is not the cinch it may appear to be. Before you decide to go it alone, consider the challenges involved and ask yourself whether you can replace the services an agent would provide.

Here is just some of what a real estate professional would do for you:

• Price your home to sell. Pricing is not based on hearsay or guesswork. It's based on statistical information about other similar homes that have sold, market conditions, and the features of your particular home. An agent puts all this data together in a comprehensive market analysis that yields the best price for your home-one that meets your needs and seems reasonable to buyers.
• Help you prepare your home for sale. Advise you about the most cost-effective improvements and cosmetic changes you can make to increase buyer interest.
• Put your home on the Multiple Listing Service. No amount of advertising can replace the kind of exposure your home would get being listed on the MLS.
• Develop a marketing plan and front all advertising and marketing expenses.
• Weed out window shoppers. Agents are skilled at qualifying buyers financially, then showing them only properties they can buy.
• Show the home objectively and effectively. Flaws in a home are apt to make an owner defensive. An agent can often point out compensating factors that lessen the impact of a flaw.
• Provide accurate, up-to-date advice. Being knowledgeable about contracts, state laws, local real estate customs, zoning, and a wide range of community affairs is beyond many homeowners.
• Negotiate to obtain a firm contract. Buyers naturally want the lowest price they can get; sellers the highest price possible. It takes experienced bargaining to arrive at a compromise that works for everyone.
• Help buyers finance the purchase of your home. Buyers may need assistance in arranging complicated financing, particularly if it involves seller assistance. Experienced real estate professionals have worked out diverse packages and know which lenders offer which kinds of mortgage plans.
• Monitor various professional inspections, including pest, radon gas, home and others. Even if you have the expertise to sell your home, you may not save time or money in the process. According to surveys, "For Sale By Owner" homes take 50% longer to sell than those sold with representation.

Consider, too, that home buyers expect you to cut your sales price, knowing you won't be paying an agent's commission from the proceeds. You may have to cut it a lot to get a buyers' attention.