Why Use a REALTOR® to Sell or Buy a Home?

By Dave Getz, REALTOR®

Obviously the fact that I’m a REALTOR® makes me a little biased. However, the reasons below are based on facts—not opinion—for why it makes sense to hire a Realtor. 

When Buying a Home  We’ll only spend a little time on this one because it’s a no-brainer! 

Reason #1: In most cases the seller will pay the fee for your buyer's agent. The seller is NOT required to pay the fee for the buyer's agent, but the reason this happens in most cases is because the buyer has more closing costs--especially with the down payment--and can't afford to buy if they also need to pay an agent.

If you find a home to purchase but the seller is not offering compensation to the buyer's agent or the compensation is less than your agent charges, then you can ask for seller concessions toward buyer closing costs to cover your agent's commission. The seller does not have to do that, in which case you can pay it yourself, or more likely you can move on to another property.

Reason #2: Transactions are complex and come with significent liability. Without using a buyer's agent do you know how to even write up a purchase contract and know what other documents are needed in the offer? Do you know what is customary or appropriate in making an offer or asking for repairs? Do you have experience working with a good lender, escrow officer, or home inspector? Each of those can make or break a transaction. After years in the business I have great referrals for all of those, as well as for trades people to make repairs.

And most importantly, do you know how to protect yourself from liability? Most people have no idea of the liability they put themselves under when buying a home without professional representation from a trained professional like me.

There are many more reasons to hire a buyer's agent. Please call me if you are interested in more information about that.

When Selling a Home Here are my top 10 reasons:

Reason #1: You’ll actually MAKE MORE MONEY even after paying commissions! That’s right—on average you will net more profit even after paying Realtor's commissions. Here are the facts:

The Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS) recently put together a comparison of sales prices for listings on the MLS vs. listings that were For Sale By Owner (FSBO). The data used for both the MLS and FSBO listings compared the actual sales prices vs. the County Assessor's full cash value ratio, which is an accurate way to compare the two.

New-build and distressed property sales were removed for increased accuracy and fairness for the FSBO sales. The average For Sale by Owner properties sold for 9.6% LESS than those listed by Realtors on the MLS. Therefore FSBO offerings netted 3.6% less profit than MLS listings even after subtracting 6% for sellers who paid Realtors' fees. That means that for a $400,000 property, a For Sale By Owner will lose an average of $14,400 by NOT using a Realtor.

Reason #2: Three words: Multiple Listing Service Active members of the National Association of Realtors are the ONLY ones who can list your property on the MLS. Statistically, 83.76% of resale homes are sold through the MLS. That means a FSBO offering misses almost 84% of the buyer's market. This reason alone is enough to make it worth the money to list with a Realtor. And it's probably the biggest reason 94% of For Sale by Owners fail to sell a house on their own.

Reason #3: Liability This isn't the most glitzy reason but it may actually be THE most important reason to use a licensed real estate professional. One tiny mistake or omission on your part could cost you a fortune to hire an attorney and pay damages. Not to mention the time and stress for resolving a court case. A Realtor’s fees pale in comparison to all of that.

Reason #4: Few buyer’s agents will show your property A buyer’s agent knows the problems they could face dealing with a For Sale By Owner transaction. Most Realtors are hesitant to deal with an owner who is not represented by a trained professional real estate agent.

Reason #5: Selling on your own only saves about half of the commissions paid When you see that check for 6% going to a listing agent, remember he or she normally gets only half that amount. Even if you’re one of the few FSBO sellers who succeed in selling your property, you’ll still have to pay the buyer’s agent a commission (usually 3%). Using the statistics from point #1 above, that means the average net income from a FSBO sale is usually a whopping 6.6% LESS than a comparable property listed with a Realtor.

Reason #6: The price is right … Or is it wrong? I have had extensive training and have the resources to do a Comparable Market Analysis (CMA, commonly known as “comps”). Few homeowners know how much their property is really worth. And popular websites like Zillow and Trulia are nice tools, but they’re inaccurate for pricing for your home. (According to Zillow's own website some of their Zestimates are off by over 20%.) There's simply no substitute for a customized CMA that a Realtor like me has thoroughly researched.

Reason #7: Paperwork The amount of paperwork needed in today’s world to complete a real estate transaction is overwhelming for the average homeowner. Think about if you actually received an offer. Where would you even begin? Do you know all the forms you’ll need to provide to a buyer? What are the deadlines you must meet. And what happens if you fill in something incorrectly? (See Reason #3 above regarding the consequences.)

Reason #8: Negotiations A listing agent is invaluable for negotiating a fair price and the conditions attached to the sale. I took a course to become a Certified Negotiating Expert to help you negotiate the best deal possible.

Reason #9: Understanding the transaction process Realtors are familiar with the process involved with selling real estate. Do you know what all the requirements and deadlines are for a transaction? Who orders a home inspection or the appraisal (and when should they be done)? What about the inspection period, the SPDS, the BINSR, or the CLUE? And do you need a Lead-Based Paint form? As you can imagine, the average homeowner doesn't understand all those documents or know if/when they are due to be completed?

Reason #10: Peace of mind It’s hard to put a price tag on this one. But hopefully after reading everything above, you now realize that hiring me as your Realtor is the only way to have any peace of mind when selling your home!

Please email or call me if you have questions about the information above or if you want a free Comparative Market Analysis to find out what your home might be worth.

Thank you!