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It can be tempting to sell your house by yourself. Especially in a state like California where there is so much competition for houses. It’s usually pretty easy to find a buyer, so what’s the point in hiring a real estate agent?
Although you can technically sell your home by yourself, there are some really good reasons to consider hiring a real estate agent instead.
Agents are Highly Qualified
A real estate agent isn’t just some person who likes selling houses. They are highly qualified to sell those houses.
Whether they attended the best California real estate school online or they attended traditional in-person classes, real estate agents spend many hours learning about all the details of selling homes.
Once they have completed classes, they then have to pass an exam before they can become a licensed real estate agent. Many also hold a membership with the National Association of Realtors, providing them with access to even more knowledge.
When you hire a real estate agent, you can feel good knowing that you’ve hired someone who is fully qualified for the job.
They Can Give You Advice on Improvements to Make
Do you know what needs to be updated, fixed, or replaced before selling your home? Not only can real estate agents tell you, based on experience, which home improvements have the greatest return on investment, they can also tell you which projects to skip.
For example, you may know that you should update your kitchen, but your real estate agent can tell you exactly what you need to do. For example, they may recommend refinishing the outside of your cabinets but tell you to skip refinishing the inside.
They know exactly what buyers in your area are looking for, so you can spend time on the home improvements that really matter.
They Know What Looks Good
Not only do they know what improvements to make to your home, they also know what changes to make so that it looks good.
Some home staging tips they might recommend include:
- Specific paint colors for certain rooms
- Pieces of furniture to get rid of to make your home look bigger
- Getting rid of overly personal artwork and family pictures
- Areas to deep clean, like the windows and baseboards
- New plants or landscaping tips to give your house more curb appeal
They can help you zero in on what needs to be done so you don’t waste time on stuff that isn’t important. For example, they might recommend repainting the living room but recommend leaving the guest bathroom as-is, which means you’ve got one less room to paint!
They Can Get You an Even Better Selling Price
It would make sense that you would get to keep more of your money if you sell your home yourself, but that’s not usually the case. Although a real estate agent makes a commission after selling your home, they can also get you an even better selling price.
A real estate agent knows the best price to list your home at, and they know when to encourage competition. Certain areas of California have homes that regularly sell over the asking price. Rather than selling at the sign of the first offer, your real estate agent knows when to be patient so you can get multiple offers that can possibly drive up the price of your house.
They Do All the Heavy Lifting For You
Selling a house doesn’t seem too complicated on the surface, but if you decide to take it all on yourself, you’ll soon discover why real estate agents have to take classes and pass an exam in order to sell houses.
Just a few of the things you have to do when selling a home include:
- Setting an asking price
- Advertising the home online and offline
- Showing the home to potential buyers
- Dealing with deposits in escrow accounts
- Negotiating offers
- Arranging home inspections
- Scheduling walkthroughs
- And more
A real estate agent can do all of the heavy lifting for you. They take care of all the details so you can focus on other things.
They Know How to Do the Paperwork
Another thing your real estate agent can do for you, so you don’t have to, is all the paperwork.
From preparing contracts to attorney reviews, seller disclosures, loan paperwork, and closing documents, there’s a lot of paperwork you have to get right in order to make sure the sale of a home is legal.
Not only can a real estate agent prepare all the paperwork, they can also answer your questions along the way. If you aren’t sure what something means, how long it’s going to take, or what comes next, having a realtor by your side who can answer all of your questions can bring you peace of mind.
You’ll Sell Faster
It may seem like you will be able to sell your house faster if you cut out the middleman, but the truth is, having a real estate agent can actually help you sell your home more quickly than if you sell it yourself.
They know exactly how the process unfolds because they have gone through it countless times. They aren’t learning as they go along, which means they are extremely efficient. They know how to make sure the process goes smoothly, which means it goes quickly.
Not to mention, they have skin in the game too. A quicker sale means a quicker commission, so you can bet that your real estate agent will do everything they can to close on your house quickly!
It may seem easier to forgo hiring a real estate agent and sell your home yourself, but that puts you at a disadvantage. You could end up selling your home for less, spend way too much time during the process, and end up taking way longer to sell your house than you expected.
Do yourself a favor and hire a real estate agent and you can make the home-selling process so much easier!
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