Why Work With a Real Estate Agent? 

If you attempt to work the sale of a home yourself, you are in charge of the transaction.  This includes marketing your property, negotiating the purchase and sale, and handling all the legal paperwork.  While this may sound simple, be aware that it can get tricky, and may be quite demanding of your time. Be certain that you have good sources of guidance so as not to expose yourself to risk, unanticipated cost, and potential delays getting to closing.   

 

Selling a Home

 

Going it alone, you will need to:

 

1. Do your own market research (unless you hire an appraiser to determine the value of your home)
2. Create your own marketing plan
3. Design your own marketing material
4. Write and place effective ads
5. Determine how to handle buyer inquiries
6. Pre-qualify your buyers
7. Prepare your home for sale
8. Arrange for inspections
9. Make yourself available to show the property
10. Be familiar with code and compliance issues
11. Know the flood elevation of your property
12. Know the adjusted square footage of your property
13. Be knowledgeable about comparable properties on and off the market
14. Have a history of comparable properties that closed in the recent past
15. Handle all negotiations
16. Prepare a contract, or pay an attorney to draft it, if the buyer is also “going it alone”
17. Pay for legal advice on terms and conditions of a contract if one is presented by a buyer
18. Determine where buyer's deposit will be held in escrow
19. Coordinate the receipt of additional future escrow deposits per contract
20. Move paperwork through the transaction  
21. Coordinate with mortgage companies
22. Coordinate with a title company  
23. Know where to turn to protect your legal rights if a problem arises
24. Pay a buyer’s agent if he is represented by a real estate professional

While you may still want to seek the advice of your attorney, a qualified real estate professional is experienced in all of the above.  A Realtor can custom design a marketing program for you, do all the work, and guide you every step along the way.  Guided by a strict Code of Ethics, a Realtorâ works diligently to facilitate your sale.  After all, it’s their job and they are good at it!