Selling Your Home: Should You Take the Help of an Agent?

Selling Your Home: Should You Take the Help of an Agent?
If you are about to sell your home you may be tempted to
"save the commission" by selling it yourself. It looks
simple enough to do, but if you consider all the
complexities of a real estate transaction you may find that
it is actually much better, safer and cost effective to get
a professional real estate representative to help you sell
your home.

I used the word "complexities" when talking about selling a
home. Let's take a look at what is involved and then it
will become clear why it is usually better to let an agent
sell your home rather than to stick a sign on your lawn and
do it yourself.

The first thing to consider is that it is time consuming to
sell your own home, and you have to ask yourself whether
you have the time, or if you do have the time, whether this
is the best use of your time. The general principle that
works here is that you should concentrate your time on what
you do well and whenever possible delegate responsibility
to skilled specialists.

So, ask yourself if you have time to study the area's real
estate market and make a marketing plan, and ask yourself
if you know what alterations on your home will raise the
value the most. If you don't have the time to do this and
don't have the knowledge, then it is clear that using an
agent would be a good option for you.

But let's take it further, do you have the required
expertise? A real estate transaction involves a lot of
money. Small details in contracts can make a difference.
Are you sure that you want go into this kind of transaction
all by yourself? A professional real estate representative
has the expertise that will allow you to sell your home
without incurring unforeseen risks.

Do you really have the skill to determine the proper
selling price for your home? If you are unrealistic you may
set the price too high and potential buyers will scared
away. If you set the price too low, you will lose money
that you could have had. Your loss can amount to thousands
of dollars; more than you would have paid the sales
representative. Real estate sales representatives sell
houses day in and day out and they know the market in your
locality. Sit down with a professional and take his or her
advice in coming up with an asking price that is both
realistic and advantageous for you.

When you are working out the proper selling price for your
home it will also be good to know what you can do to get
the highest price. Once again, a real estate representative
is the person who knows what home improvements will bring
the highest return. It may be just a few minor repairs that
will improve the saleability of your home, and experienced
sales representative will know what factors are most
important in the eyes of a potential buyer.

Once you have a proper selling price and have improved the
house you still have to attract the potential buyers. A
simple newspaper advertisement and a sign on your lawn may
not be enough to bring enough inquiries and visitors. This
is another area where a professional can be most helpful. A
sales representative can set up a marketing strategy that
will not only put your house in front of the eyes of many
home seekers, but it will be targeted to the ones that are
most likely to buy your particular home.

Selling a home can also be tedious because, a lot of people
come to your house, look around but are not serious about
buying. You can save yourself this kind of agony by letting
an agent screen potential home buyers, sending only the
serious prospects to your door.

Once the buyers start coming you also have to handle them
properly. Many of them will either be skilled negotiators
or will be coming with their own professionals to guide
them. Are you ready to negotiate the best deal all by
yourself or would you rather have your own professional
guiding you?

These are the kinds of considerations that you should make
before trying to sell your home on your own. I think that
if you weigh up all the factors that go into selling a home
you will find it wise to take the help of a professional
real estate sales representative.

----------------------------------------------------
Hamed Mahmood Salehi is a Toronto Real Estate Broker. His
website http://www.FindYourHomeValue.ca/ offers great tips
for home buyers and sellers, free home evaluation, real
estate news and information about Toronto home values.