Selling Your Home with a Real Estate Agent
With the advent of the internet came a new way to buy and sell real estate—online real estate listings. These websites have made it easy for buyers to look at photos, maps, and take virtual tours. They’ve allowed sellers to upload photos, write descriptions, and book home tours. But when it comes to selling your home, a real estate agent is still the number one way to get the most money from the sale. Today, we’re looking at 3 reasons to sell your home with a Kelowna real estate agent; every reason is about yielding the maximum dollars from your home sale!
Top 3 Reasons to List with a Okanagan BC Real Estate Agent
Keeping Unqualified Buyers Away
The first reason you should list with an agent is keeping unqualified buyers away! If you’ve ever tried to sell a home yourself, you were probably barraged with phone calls and emails from people who wanted to tour your home. Upon arrival, they told you they were “just looking” or “getting their paperwork together.”
To an experienced Okanagan BC real estate agent, these translate to unqualified buyers.
A qualified buyer is one who:
- Is currently and actively in the market for a new home
- Has the cash in hand for down payments and closing costs
- Is pre-qualified for a mortgage by a lender
Without meeting these criteria, you are wasting your time. Your real estate agent will be able to discern between qualified and unqualified buyers, so your house sells faster and for more money. It saves you money by cutting down on the month-to-month carrying costs of your current home after you’ve moved to your new one.
Skilled Negotiating
The chances are great that the buyer of your home will make an offer asking for something. It may be a lowered selling price, assistance with closing costs, repair allowances, or even to purchase your home fully furnished. While an online seller might not know what is acceptable or not, a licensed real estate agent will fully understand the common practices.
Real estate agents are skilled negotiators. They will sift through the offer and advise you on what parts of the offer are good and which ones are poor. They will then help you construct a counter-offer that’s fair to both parties. This will help you keep more money in your pocket at the end of the sale.
Pricing Data
Many people who attempt to sell online themselves end up listing with an agent. They are often unsuccessful at selling their home due to incorrect pricing. A homeowner is, by nature, sentimental about the home. A realtor is objective and will price the home to sell for the maximum dollars for the current market.
A realtor looks at a wide range of factors and pricing data to set a fair price that will sell any home faster than an incorrectly priced home. Some of the factors include:
- The age of the home
- The condition of the home
- Neighborhood “comps”
- Square footage
A real estate agent will base the pricing on this overall picture and advise the seller on the price range and help them see clearly the appropriate price tag. This helps sellers sell homes faster so that they can pay off that mortgage and reduce interest payments!
Wrap-up
Don’t lose money by trying to sell your home online! You could lose thousands of dollars.
A licensed real estate agent is a partner who will help you with the home-selling process. She will guide you through the home selling process. In addition, her goal is to help you get the most money in the current market and sell your home faster.
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