When Buying a House Do I Really Need to Hire a REALTOR

In our last blog, we discussed the benefits of hiring a REALTOR when selling a home.  What about buying?  What if you found the home you want?  Why would you want to use a REALTOR?  What are the benefits?  What are the detriments?  Do you really have to hire a REALTOR?

The simplest answer is "no."  You do not absolutely have to hire a REALTOR when buying a home.  You can find a lender on your own and get pre-approved for a home loan.  You can put in the research time and search the thousands of homes available on sites such as REALTOR.com, Trulia, Zillow, Homes.com, etc and find your perfect home, or at least narrow it down to a few homes you would like to see.  You can call the listing agent and schedule an appointment to see the home.  Or, if looking a new construction, call the site agent and set an appointment to see the model.  You can determine the market value on your own and determine what you would like to offer.  You can draw up the offer and handle the negotiations back and forth between yourself and the seller.  You can review the lengthy contract yourself and sign off on its stipulations.  Once you have an accepted contract, you can coordinate the inspections with a qualified, licensed inspector and review the results.  You can also negotiate the repair issues (if there are any).  You can handle the paperwork and follow up with the lender and title company.  Then, you can handle all the details involved in moving like arranging movers, packing, setting up utility services, etc.  Once that big day finally comes, you can go to the closing table, by yourself, and review the lengthy closing statement, deal with any errors, and finally buy your home.

Legally, "yes," you can do all of the above mentioned tasks by yourself without a REALTOR.  The real question is, why would you want to?  You also have a job, family, friends-a life to live.  Why take your valuable spare time and spend it doing all the tasks mentioned above.  With enough time, the proper tools, and the proper manuals, when my lawn mower broke, I'm sure I could have eventually figured out how to fix it but lets face it-time is money.  I instead took it to a repair man who fixed it and I was back up and running in a day.  Also don't forget, when buying a home hiring a REALTOR costs you, the buyer, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.  Yes, I said absolutely nothing.  The commission is paid by the seller to the listing agent, or rather the listing agent's company.  The listing agents company will then share the commission with the buyer agent, or rather the buyer agent's company.

It just makes sense to hire a REALTOR when buying a house.  They know the market, they know how to negotiate a contract, and it is their job to do the follow up.  Since it costs you nothing, why not leave it to the experts?  TEAM JOHNSON would love to help you find your home, whether it be your first home or your last home, give us a call.  904-495-0146

Do I Really Need to Hire a Realtor to Sell My Home

Selling a home can be an overwhelming process.  In an effort to save money many people try to complete this process without the assistance of a REALTOR®.  Is this a good idea?  Do you really need to hire a Real Estate Agent? Let's look at the process.  Sellers have to price their house so that they do not price themselves out of the market.  However, they do not want to give it away either.  How will you figure that out?  Then, since they do not have access to the MLS (multiple listing service), they have to figure out how to market their home and get the word out.  Where will you post it?  The sellers will have to aesthetically stage their home so that it appeals to potential buyers.  How will you do that?  The sellers will have to coordinate all showings, sometimes even having to leave work.  Now, you finally receive an offer.  Now the fun begins?  Are the buyers qualified?  How much room is there for negotiation?  The buyers want seller concessions.  What, by law, do you have to fix?  If you are lucky enough to get into a multiple offer situation, how will you determine which is the best offer-and remember highest does not always mean best.  Once the home is "Under Contract" the seller then has to facilitate the transaction regarding  home inspection, appraisal of your home, and trouble shoot any problems that arise before closing.  BTW-you still have to do that unimportant stuff like work and spend time with family and friends.

By hiring a licensed real estate professional, you are placing the burden on them and taking if off yourself.  The REALTOR® handles everything mentioned above.  A good agent will communicate with you every step of the way.  They will perform a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) using other homes that are currently for sale and have recently sold to give you an idea of where to price your home.  They will handle the marketing-take photos/videos of your home, design flyers, websites, virtual tours, mailings, and post data about your home on various online entities.  They will coordinate showing and even show the property themselves if requested.  A REALTOR® will discuss any and all offers with you and advise you on the "best" offer.  They will handle all the negotiations once obtaining permission from the owner.  They will follow up and schedule all inspections with the buyers & the buyer's agent.  The REALTOR® will handle everything for you. 

Remember, your home is the biggest & most valuable possession you have.  When you get sick you call a doctor, when your car breaks, you take it in to a mechanic.  Why not trust your biggest asset to an expert as well?  TEAM JOHNSON would love to help you sell your home.  Call us today to get the ball rolling 904-495-0146.