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Yes with social media and all your online tools they do seem to be useless these days...i would say try selling on your own for a few months if that doesnt work then go with an agent. Good luck
The difference is if all the agent does is handle the sale, or if the agent is actively selling. I've seen both cases.
In the first case, they are a convenient order taker. They field calls, arrange showings, work with the buyer, etc. In a strong market that's all that is really needed, which is why there were tons of "agents" during the boom times. A decently-priced house in reasonable shape could practically sell itself.
My recent experience is that's not a strong market, but a very weak market in my area of Long Island. My house was priced considerably less than I wanted, but still at the top end of what the weak market was paying. Over 2 months on the market and not a single offer despite lowering the price multiple times. Why? The agent couldn't sell. Enter #2.
My second agent is a salesperson. She does all of the stuff that the first person does, but knows the area. Knows people. Knew how to best represent my house in the most attractive way possible. And most importantly, got a buyer during of all times, the holiday season when pretty much nobody is buying. I also didn't have to lower my asking price any further.
So, it all depends on the location. And the level of patience of the seller.
We tried to do it on our own and found that realtors will not bring any of their clients to see your house. If they do you have to negotiate a commission with that agent. We used a service called Century 21 Click it to get an MLS listing. As "sirtiger" mentioned "You can also lose a lot opportunities as well." Fortunately we found an outstanding real estate agent and were able to sell our house within a reasonable amount of time. This being said two of our neighbors sold their homes without a realtor however it took them a great deal longer to sell their homes and they sold for way less than what they were asking.
Sell it on your own, do you reaally need some smuck agent to tell the buyer room by room that this is a kitchen, basement, garage etc.
There useless. Save the money do it yourself. If the buyers like it they will buy. I never bought a house based on what some glorified salesman wanted to push just so he can make a nice commission.
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Although long ago I did sell a home in Newsday , I have had wonderful agents for both buying and selling. One had her husband shovel the driveway and paths when there was a major blizzard & I was not at home. Another went to Home Depot to buy a light fixture when the one I had was broken & I was in another state . Another has remained a good friend. I would never had been able to take care of all the various negotiations and legal entanglements (not always in New York) without them .
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Yes with social media and all your online tools they do seem to be useless these days...i would say try selling on your own for a few months if that doesn't work then go with an agent. Good luck
I have had good and bad experiences with Realtors working on the buyers side the last 14 years. They are not loan officers or attorneys. Their main function is assisting with buying and selling a properties. Not prequalify for loans, or advising on legal matters.
An advantage to using a realtor is when the buyer does not want to initially work with the seller (there may be other properties in consideration).
Another advantage for the buyer is able to show (look at more than one) multiple property's.
For the home owner that doesn't want to pass on the costs the the seller (paid for in closing costs). You can try the cheap route first, realizing you get what you put into it. When it doesn't sell, then try a realtor.
If you do hire a realtor, you should require that they agree to a flat fee (be it 2% or 2.5%) irrespective of whether the buyer has an agent. You shouldn't be giving a listing broker a five figure windfall just because the purchaser does not have a broker. Of course, as the seller, you should pay the selling broker the other 2% or 2.5% if the buyer has one.
If you do hire a realtor, you should require that they agree to a flat fee (be it 2% or 2.5%) irrespective of whether the buyer has an agent. You shouldn't be giving a listing broker a five figure windfall just because the purchaser does not have a broker. Of course, as the seller, you should pay the selling broker the other 2% or 2.5% if the buyer has one.
If a listing on Multiple Listing does not offer/display compensation to selling agents, no selling agent is going to show it, because they want to get paid for their work - so offering the listing agent 2 - 2.5% defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Unless you expect the listing agent to work for free
If a listing on Multiple Listing does not offer/display compensation to selling agents, no selling agent is going to show it, because they want to get paid for their work - so offering the listing agent 2 - 2.5% defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Unless you expect the listing agent to work for free
Huh? The listing agent (who works for the seller) gets paid 2% or 2.5% when the house sells. If there is a selling agent (who works for the purchaser), then that person also gets paid 2% or 2.5%. If there is no selling agent because the purchasers do not have a broker, the listing agent still gets their commission (2% or 2.5% depending on the agreement), but does not pocket an additional commission just because the purchasers don't have a broker.
Elke Mariotti:
I wouldn't want to be a real estate agent. It's a tough business. Only after buying and selling a home does one realize how much work they have to do. Multiple showings, driving around all day burning up their own gas, wear and tear on their own vehicles etc. They only get paid after the closing. We had no problem paying the commission. They earned it. We were able to get a fair price for our home and buy the type of home that we expected. Before we moved to Arizona we made several trips out here and met with different realtors who spent a great deal of time with us showing us around the area and what type of homes we could afford. For all they knew we could have been "tire kickers" or "dreamers" or just people who like to waste other people's time looking at houses. I was surprised that many people do just that. God knows there were a few of these types of people that looked at our house. Fortunately for us we had a great real estate agent who was very professional and thorough. Following his advise resulted in a quick and easy sale and for a price that was better than what we expected because of his negotiating skills.
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