In a world where Zillow has become a brokerage and where more and more companies are offering seemingly amazing deals to buy and sell houses, therefore bypassing real estate agents, you may be wondering, “why should I hire an agent at all?” Some companies are offering great deals to cut out agents from the field that they know best, therefore undercutting their value. So this question is an important one for agents to acknowledge and address head-on. We have to stop acting oblivious and start being proactive in showing the value of having an agent represent you in a transaction.

Investment Buyers

If you are a homeowner in this seller’s market, you may have experienced the phenomenon of people knocking on your door or cold calling you to offer to buy or sell your house. And you may have considered it, as you should. As a seller, you should consider every offer that comes your way. But these people are often investors, meaning they think they can make money off of your property.

So let’s break this down. When someone approaches you before you have even listed your house and offers a price on your home, this should tell you two things:

1. They think they can make more money on your house than the price they are offering. These people are They are not going to pay more money than they think they can make off of the property. So why would you want to take an offer that leaves money on the table for you?
2. They are trying to avoid competing with multiple-offer scenarios by coming to you before you list your house. Thus, if you accept this offer, you will not have a chance to see what others would have offered you if you had listed it. This prevents you from seeing every possible opportunity, where, in fact, non-investors may be willing to pay more for your home.

Look, I am not saying all investment offers are bad offers. In fact, they may be fair market value. But I am saying, how can you truly know the most amount of money you can get for your home until you talk to a knowledgeable real estate agent and open it up to the entire market? If you sell by owner, you aren’t as exposed in the market. If you choose an offer before you list, you are not allowing yourself to see all the options out there. The market sets the value of a home, so how can you know the top-dollar value until you put your home on the market and get your top-dollar offer?

What a Seller’s Agent Should Do to Get You Top Dollar

Now, you may be on the fence about working with a real estate agent to sell your house or not. Companies like Zillow, Redfin, and Open Door (to name just a few of the most popular) may offer sellers discounted rates for their business. If these companies are offering better deals, why should sellers still hire real estate agents?

Simply put, real estate agents should bring enough value and more to overcompensate for the difference in what a seller would pay an Internet brokerage. Some agents just don’t bring that difference in value, but they should. Here is what you should require and expect of your real estate agent if you choose to list your house with them. Your agent should be:

• Knowledgeable about the market of YOUR home. When you have an initial meeting with a potential agent, you want to see that they have done their research and are confident in the information they present you beyond a simple search on the homes around yours. Each house is unique, so they should see your home and asses it based on the current market and provide you information you did not already know.
• Good at communicating. This may seem like a no-brainer, but there is nothing more frustrating as a buyer’s agent than to reach out to a seller’s agent multiple times, just to get no response. As a buyer’s agent, I can’t help my buyer clients make an offer on your home if your agent will not reply to my multiple emails, texts, calls, and voicemails when the house has only been on the market one day. Thus, you want to pay attention to your potential agent’s communication while setting up your meetings and in conversations that follow. If they don’t respond promptly to you, then how can you expect them to respond in a timely manner (or at all) to potential buyers?
• Organized. So many steps go into a real estate transaction, so it is imperative that your real estate agent knows how to keep track of each element. If you see that your agent has structure, a process, and a strategy, you know that you’re on the right track.
• A Go-Getter. You want someone who is going to actively try to sell your home, right? So you want to feel confident that your agent is going to exhaust every avenue to find the perfect buyer for your home. You’ll know the difference between a lazy agent and a passionate one by the way they talk about their strategy from before you even list to after the house is on the market.

If an agent brings each of these qualities and more to the table, I can bet that your selling experience will be much more memorable and that you will profit more than if you just listed through someone on the other side of your screen. Having a real person in your current market be YOUR advocate will take your listing to the next level. Internet brokerages are simply trying to make money. Real estate agents, especially REALTOR®s who are held to a higher standard than just any agent, should have a first priority of helping you sell your home with a secondary side effect of earning money.

These top-notch, stellar agents are invaluable and prolific. If you need help finding one near you, reach out on my contact page. I would be happy to get you connected to one, no matter if you live close to me or on the other side of the world. Ready to download your FREE Seller’s Checklist? Click here and scroll down to fill out my contact form. 

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with the benefits of hiring a real estate agent? Let me know in the comments below. I’m curious what non-real-estate agents are thinking about this whirlwind of these new Internet brokerages.