The Big Debate: Are Real Estate Agents Even Necessary These Days? Definitely.

A benefit of selling your home by yourself is being able to get back more of the sale from your home because you will not have any commissions to pay. The drawback is that selling a home on your own makes you responsible for knowing and following all of the steps and requirements involved in selling a property. Read on:  Reasons You Still Need a Real Estate Agent.

Do I even need one?

Although many people think that they need a real estate agent in order to sell their home, there is actually no requirement or law that mandates that you hire on to help you sell your home. However, there are some states that require you to have a real estate agent in order to handle the paperwork that is associated with the closing of the home sale. If you do not know the laws that apply in your state, you should check with your state department to see if you need the help of a real estate agent to close your home sale. See: Do I Need a Realtor to Buy a Home?1c26afb5f01544259164390f95bae059

Selling your home by yourself

Selling your home by yourself is called a “For Sale By Owner.” This can be a great way for you to get the full sale price of your home without having to pay commission fees, but along the way you will probably develop a better understanding of why real estate agents charge the commissions they do. You should be prepared for putting in more time, energy and effort that you think you reasonably should.

Legality

In order to properly sell your home by yourself, you will need to learn about the laws of your state that govern real estate transfers. These laws will indicate what kinds of paperwork you will need to prepare as well as who will need to sign what. In addition, you will need to find out what to do if you find that there are any encumbrances that are on your home and how to handle them. Lastly, some states have mandatory disclosure laws that you will need to follow where you will need to disclose certain physical characteristics of your home.

The listing 

If you are serious about listing your home by yourself, it is essential that you consider posting your listing online. There are a number of websites around that are dedicated to helping you sell your home on your own. One of the best things that you can do to get your home sale off the ground is to get your home listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This is a nationwide service that lists homes for sale that are searchable by area, even neighborhood. There are a number of ways that you can get your home listed on the MLS, such as:

Using a real estate agent

Although you may not need a real estate agent, there may be times when you can use a real estate agent to help you. Many real estate agents are willing to help those who are planning on listing their home as For Sale By Owner with many tasks including:

•Helping you determine the home market
•Determining an appropriate asking price
•Listing your home on MLS, or
•Assisting in some of the more complex paperwork and transactions.

If you can find a real estate agent that is willing to help you with some of the smaller tasks associated with your home sale, you may be able to work out a compensation plan for the agent that is more to your liking. For example, you could negotiate a smaller commission, or even agree to pay the agent an hourly fee for each hour that he or she works on your home.

When you really do need one

If you come to the conclusion that it is too time consuming or stressful, you can always go ahead and hire a real estate agent to sell your home for you. Although he or she will probably take a larger cut that you may like, it may save you time and effort in the long run.

1 thought on “The Big Debate: Are Real Estate Agents Even Necessary These Days? Definitely.”

  1. I would absolutely use a realtor. Of course, it depends on who it is. If you don’t have a good realtor, you’re wasting your time. Truly. They’re actually costing you money by each day your home sits on the market, and you keep paying your bills. Find a good realtor.

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