Selling your home can seem like an exciting challenge at first. After all, there is just one little transaction that is standing in the way of your backpacking trek through Europe or that upgrade to the coastal villa of your dreams. How hard can it be to get someone to buy your home?
Too often, homeowners find that a few weeks to months on the housing market can quickly stifle their eagerness. Although you have memories associated with every chocolate milk stain on the carpet and paint chip on the wall, prospective buyers won’t be quite as sentimental.
What you need is someone who can come in and appraise your home with a fresh perspective. This person should be professional, efficient, and able to use their years of experience to help you sell your home with no problem. What you need is a realtor. If you still think that selling lemonade as a child adequately prepared you for the housing market, here are some of the key reasons to consider a realtor:
Your House Will Look Its Best
This may seem like a no brainer, but as mentioned, homeowners can often grow blind to the many unsightly areas throughout their home. A realtor can come in and quickly tell you, not only what buyers want, but also the things that will instantly turn them away(we’re looking at you, nail polish stains from your daughter’s first slumber party). Not only will your house be in great shape, but listing your house under a realtor actually makes it more appealing to buyers. People are often skeptical of houses listed as ‘FSBO’(For Sale By Owner) and homes with that label can take longer to sell. Getting a realtor can help you avoid those superficial roadblocks altogether.
The Market is for the Pros
When a homeowner sells their house easily without a realtor, usually one of three situations is occurring.
1) They have a relative or friend who just happens to be house hunting
2) They have a rare gift for natural salesmanship and navigating the real estate market
3) They’re in an alternate universe.
Selling a house isn’t as easy as selling your old couch, it is a process that brings new challenges with each step. Once your house is on the market, you will either sink or swim, and without the guidance of a professional the former is far more likely. Cooperative marketing, which is basically ‘having connections’ the housing world, is vital to getting your home exposed to the maximum number of buyers in the shortest period of time. This is largely based on your realtor’s ability to connect you to buyers searching under their partner realtors. These partners rarely look to do business with sellers who aren’t associated with licensed professionals or licensed themselves. Once your home looks great, is being spotlighted on the market, you can sit down and appreciate the fact that.
You Can Save Money
Ironically, money is the primary reason that people opt out of hiring a realtor. They assume that spending the extra money on a professional is a waste. They feel as though that money could just as easily go to repairs and upgrades around the house. Unfortunately, those people did not read numbers #1 and #2, and are unaware of the rocky nature of the housing market. Instead of going months with no offers and settling on a price that is far below the true value of your home, realtors can make sure that your selling price is competitive but not too cheap.
The Richmond Hill area has a vast array of beautiful homes for sale, and can be quite competitive to the inexperienced seller. Let the Maureen Bryant realtor team guide you through the ups and downs of selling your home, and you’ll be off sailing the world in no time.
