The Powerful Benefits of Using a Realtor

Buying or selling a home is one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll ever make. While handling the process on your own may seem like a great way to save money on Realtor fees,  navigating the process without professional guidance can lead to unexpected expenses, missed opportunities, and costly mistakes. In fact, some home buying mistakes can prevent a sale from happening altogether.

The benefits of using a Realtor not only include helping you determine the right price, understanding contracts and deadlines, and identifying and resolving potential problems. They also offer valuable advice, know how to protect your money and investment, and work tirelessly to keep your transaction on track.

Getting the Best Price for Your Home

Whether you’re buying a new home, or selling your current one, getting the best price is important. One of the biggest benefits of using a Realtor is having access to real-time data and conducting a comparative market analysis (CMA) to ensure the house is priced accordingly.

When a Realtor starts the listing process for a seller, they don’t guess at a number. They review recently sold homes, properties currently on the market, and comparable properties in your neighborhood. By comparing those properties to your home, your Realtor can recommend a competitive asking price. Listing your home at the right price from day one ensures you get immediate traffic from buyers which ultimately leads to a faster sale. 

Alternatively, buyer’s agents can conduct that same CMA in your desired neighborhood. This equips you with the data you need to strengthen negotiations and ensure you don’t overpay when putting in an offer.

Keeping Your Real Estate Transaction on Track

Real estate contracts are legally binding and can be confusing. A single oversight on the contract can create unnecessary problems, financial consequences, or delays. Depending on the terms of the agreement, important deadlines may include:

• Earnest money deposit deadlines
• Home inspection and appraisal contingency deadlines
• Mortgage financing and approval deadlines
• Required documentation and other contractual obligations
• The final settlement date

Failure to meet even one of these deadlines can cause the entire agreement to fall through, and put your earnest money deposit at risk.

Once an offer has been accepted, your Realtor will keep in constant communication with all parties involved to keep the transaction moving smoothly towards settlement.

Avoiding Costly Mistakes/Unexpected Expenses

One of the most important benefits of using a Realtor is having professional guidance to help identify potential concerns before they become expensive problems.

Navigating Financing and Budget

Before you start looking at houses, a Realtor will connect you with a reputable loan officer to obtain a mortgage pre-qualification. Once you are pre-qualified, you’ll have an idea of how much home you can comfortably afford. It helps your Realtor find houses in your budget that fit your needs. When buying a home without a Realtor, you run the risk of falling in love with a property you ultimately cannot afford.

A Realtor will also provide information on property taxes, homeowners insurance, closing costs, utilities, and ongoing maintenance expenses. They can recommend a trustworthy insurance agent who has experience with insuring homes in your area. This step is crucial as premiums can vary depending on many home factors, and in some cases, a property may require specialized coverage increasing the premium even more. Factoring in these additional expenses gives you an overall price of homeownership, rather than just the monthly mortgage payments. 

Spotting Red Flags

During the home search, it’s easy to focus on areas you love and overlook potential issues. An experienced Realtor has seen their fair share of homes and can point out areas of concern, such as plumbing, electrical, and foundation issues, to name a few. While not a qualified home inspector, their insight could be enough to make or break a potential offer.

The same principle applies when selling your home. Your Realtor will do a walkthrough and point out areas of concern that may require attention prior to selling. Addressing these concerns before you put your house on the market can help reduce avoidable surprises during negotiations.

Negotiating Skills

Once you find a home and put in an offer, a Realtor will connect you with a trusted and qualified home inspector who will thoroughly evaluate the property. This inspector may uncover issues that weren’t visible during your initial home search. Having documentation of these issues gives your Realtor the ability to negotiate the terms of the sale. They may draft and submit an agreement of sale addendum to negotiate seller concessions for the necessary repairs or even request a price adjustment. 

Another important area open to potential negotiations is the bank’s home appraisal. Should the appraisal come back lower than the agreed-upon purchase price, your Realtor can explore options to renegotiate the sale price to address the appraisal gap. This, however, depends upon the financing and terms of your agreement.

Knowing you have an experienced professional in your corner who will work hard to keep the deal alive and protect your financing through negotiation skills and tactics is one of the valuable benefits of using a Realtor.

Are Realtors Worth the Money?

“Working with a Realtor was worth every penny!” said Liz Showalter, Diamond’s Marketing Associate. “Not only was he available at all hours of the day to answer questions and talk us off a ledge, he used his experience to sell our home within two weeks of listing it. He also helped us secure a new home a week later. The process of buying and selling a home at the same time was stressful, but having someone in our corner made all the difference!”

When weighing the benefits of using a Realtor versus handling the entire transaction on your own, you must consider how much time, effort, and preparation you are willing to put in. Every real estate transaction is different, and there are always risks involved. Having an experienced Realtor to help navigate the ups and downs and get you to the finish line may outweigh any potential savings you’d get when selling or buying a home without a Realtor. 

If you’re looking to buy or sell a home, a good place to start is talking with Diamond’s mortgage team. They are available to answer any home buying questions you may have, and help get the pre-qualification process started.