Posts Tagged ‘Money’
First, let’s cover how NOT to choose an agent because these are the 3 most common mistakes sellers make (but now you won’t).
1. You should not select a friend or relative just because you know them.
If they are going to do the best job marketing your home, then choose them for that reason, if not you need to do what is best for you.
2. You should not select the agent because they say they will get you the highest price for your home.
Your home is worth what a buyer will pay for it and the way to get the most money is to prepare the home to show as well as it can, pricing it correctly and marketing the home properly. The agent that does those things will really get you the best price for your home.
3. Don’t choose someone just because they tell you they have a potential buyer for your home.
When you list with the best sellers agent, any agent with a buyer can still show and sell your home, so that is not a reason to choose them to market it.
You want to choose an agent you feel comfortable with, but that is not the only criteria. The agent you select should be continually learning, you can tell this by their designations or certifications earned. How a home is marketed has changed drastically over the last few years, largely due to the Internet. You want an agent that keeps up to date. You also want some who is trained in the type of property you are selling, whether it’s single family residential, luxury homes, condos, commercial or investment property. They are marketed differently. Of course, the agent’s job is to effectively market your home so it sells. More than 80% of the time, the listing agent is not the one to represent the buyer. You are hiring them to market your property. Any agent can sell your home if it’s listed with another real estate agent, that’s the purpose of the MLS. Ask a potential agent about their marketing plan. It should include ways to market to the public and ways to market to agents.
Some agents want to sell your home themselves so they don’t have to split the commission and they don’t market to agents. This is a common practice, but is not in your best interest. No one has control of your homes location, neighborhood, incurable functional or external deficiencies, interest rates and the overall real estate market, but these things have an effect on the time it will take to sell your home and your actual selling price. You want an agent who has experience in the things you do have control over such as marketing, preparing the home for sale, and determining the most realistic asking price. The Internet has rapidly grown to be the most effective way of marketing a home. Choose an agent who is good at using the Internet to get maximum exposure. Other skill considerations are the knowledge and use of virtual tours, photography, ad writing and communication. Commission rates among brokers are similar and seem to average around 6%-7%. If you are asked for a higher commission, be sure you are getting the value for it in extra services. If you are offered a lower commission, be sure you know what you are giving up. It may sound like you will end up with more money, but if your home doesn’t sell or sells for a lower price because you gave up valuable marketing, you don’t end up saving anything. Better marketing and service usually result in better sales prices and may be worth the higher commission. Some properties such as luxury homes or investment property are more expensive to market and usually take longer to sell.
One of the most important jobs a real estate does for you is the negotiation after a buyer is found. This is difficult to know about. Look for a certification or additional training in negotiation. “A real estate agent has a high fiduciary duty – a duty of trust and confidence” Donald R. Brenner, professor emeritus at American University.
Consider choosing an agent who is a Realtor
For the longest time, owners would always turn to agents to sell properties. These days, you can sell your property without an agent and save a bundle on commissions.
Sell Your Property Without An Agent
One thing that many property owners get caught up in that they don’t necessarily have to is dealing with a real estate agent. When looking to sell, many property owners think that they need a real estate agent to sell their property. This simply is not so. Sure, a real estate agent knows the ropes (hopefully), but the commission charged is not exactly cheap and often times property owners would be better off selling the property by themselves.
Selling your property without an agent is something that every property owner in the market to sell should definitely consider. It can save a lot of money and allow the property owner to end up with quite a bit of extra cash in their pocket that would have gone to the real estate agent instead.
The real estate agent will indeed know the ropes of listing the property and dealing with buyers, but doing these things is not as hard as some thing. In fact, for listing a property, just going online and listing on a web site will allow property owners to connect with thousands of buyers and open the door for selling their property very quickly.
In terms of dealing with buyers, this essentially comes down to your own resolve. Set a price for your property ahead of time, but make it reasonable. Know what the properties around you are worth and have been selling for and have a number in mind that you want your property to sell for. Be flexible but be prepared to haggle with buyers over the selling price of the property.
Dealing with buyers and listing the property are really the only two major things that will change whether or not you have a real estate agent. And, on that note, if you do have a real estate agent then it can be just as difficult dealing with them as it can be dealing with buyers! So, know what your options are and make the right choice for you when selling your property.
By: Raynor James
By definition, estate agents’ role is to facilitate property owners in selling their properties. You loathe them or like them, they are responsible for selling the bulk of properties in the UK. The role of an estate agent is explained herein. The estate agents perform all the activities as defined for their role or not, is another question.
First, an estate-agent has to estimate an accurate price for your property. They are well aware of the market rate and do evaluations on a continuous basis. Based on this information, they can tell you the currency worth of your property. The person who does the evaluation must be qualified from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors or from the National Association of Estate Agents. The price the agents fix should be low enough to attract the maximum number of potential buyers. Nevertheless, you should not lose money on the property. Some estate agents will jack up the price to gain advantage for negotiation.
The second function of an estate expert is to present your house properly to the potential buyers. Therefore, you should highlight the strong points about your house for the estate agent to note. This would help him in better defining the strengths of your house to the potential buyers.
The third function of an estate-agent is to advertise your property. The quality and placement of these advertisements are important. Estate agents will advertise your property in the local papers, on their websites and on promotional brochures and listings.
The next activity of an estate agent involves showing your house to the potential buyers. Some agents advertise the property and wait hoping that it will attract customers itself. Others take eager interest and work quite hard to sell it.
The estate agents handle the entire selling process. They handle the legal proceedings once a sale is finalised. Measuring the property, preparing the sale agreement, and negotiating the terms, all is done by the estate agent. Some estate agents eagerly help buyers, yet some buyers complain about their services.
Whom do you communicate with in an estate agency and how, often is another important point. Calling up every minute to check is not going to help in selling your property. You should call your estate agent when it is required and get yourself updated about the proceedings.
All these points have to be discussed with the estate agent, as he will be showing the house to the potential buyers and negotiate with them.
By: James L Harrison
All letting agents will advertise that they will actively carry out property management services. However, fees for this service can range from 5% of your monthly rental income to over 15%. So what do you get for your money and how do you know how to choose between the agents?
What we tend to find is that some agents will charge a very high set up fee, such as
