Buying and selling a home can look like a piece of cake when the market is working in your favor. However, the truth is that it’s easy to lose anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars with a few simple missteps. That’s why there are certain areas of buying or selling where you should listen to your agent. When does a realtor usually know best? Here’s a look at five smart areas where you should always listen to your realtor.
1. Staging the House
It’s extremely difficult to be objective about a home we live in every single day. While we may enjoy our own taste in home décor, a person who is shopping for a home could be turned off by our personal touches. Buyers are looking for blank slates that show off a home’s spaciousness and potential. Home staging can increase the dollar value of buyer offers by as much as 5%.
2. Negotiations
Being overconfident about negotiation techniques can be a big mistake in real estate. Your agent has sat at the closing table countless times before. By allowing your agent to guide you in the process, you could improve your chance of enjoying smooth negotiations that get you more of what you want!
3. House Prices
Local realtors perform cost analysis based on market trends and recent sales of comparable properties. They are experts when it comes to understanding home prices. When listing homes, sellers have a tendency to overestimate what someone will pay. While listing high may seem like an attractive strategy, the truth is that this could cost a seller money in the long run by causing a home to sit on the market for months.
4. Home Improvement Projects
If your realtor tells you that a home needs some specific updates before it can be put on the market, it’s a good idea to take their advice. Their experience allows them to know what gets offers, what causes buyers to walk away, and what can trigger issues during an inspection. While the thought of putting in time or money to make some updates around the home seems daunting, the payoff can be more than worth it!
5. Offers
Receiving or submitting an offer can be an emotionally charged time. Having an expert by your side to help you make clear-headed decisions is a huge advantage. After all, the other party will certainly be utilizing all of their agent’s knowledge to get the best deal possible. By listening to your realtor, you’re in a position to maximize offer potential. According to reports, people who use a real estate agent to list and sell their house tend to receive substantially higher offers. There’s no doubt that one of the reasons for the increase in profit is that realtors know how to negotiate offers to help their clients ask for the maximum home value. For buyers, having an experienced advocate on your side to help you submit attractive offers that can compete against other buyers is essential.
