Why Hire a Realtor Archives - East Texas Real Estate Group

Why You Should Hire a Realtor: Emotions

Hire a Realtor Because Emotions Happen

Of all the reasons to hire a real estate agent, the emotional value they bring to the table may be most compelling.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”#dd1f1f” class=”” size=””]Nostalgia makes my home priceless to me, but does nothing for new buyers.[/perfectpullquote]

When I discovered my parents were selling my childhood home, I wilted inside. The tin barn had sheltered several hundred hay bales thrown by hand over seventeen years. The diving board above our pool launched my siblings and I to many a happy summer day, and how can I describe the walls that gave shape and solidity to my childhood?

If you’ve ever lived in a place for some length of time, you know what I mean. Our memories put roots in the soil where we live, but the trees we find so meaningful don’t exist for new home buyers. To them, our barn is rusted, not magical. The diving board is dry-rotted, the house old, and the walls might even lean. The memories that knot in our throat can swell our price. Nostalgia makes my home priceless to me, but does nothing for new buyers.

Objectivity for the Objective

Realtors provide an objective point of view during this incredibly emotional process so you can accomplish the objective: selling your home. They provide a balanced estimate of value based on comparable sales in your neighborhood and hold your hand as you enter a new stage of life. The list of duties involved in the title “real estate agent,” goes on for many miles, but it should include “counselor” as you say goodbye to the place you raised your kids, or buried your dog, or hosted Christmas each year.

And as you turn from the past, eyes brimming with tears and hopes for the future, an agent will help you create reasonable expectations. It’s been written that “hope deferred makes the heart sick,” and finding your beloved dwelling worth less than you thought proves it.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”#dd1f1f” class=”” size=””]Realtors help you dream in tandem with your financial reality.[/perfectpullquote]

Agents can help you see endearing faults tied to fond memories for what they truly are: obstacles to selling your home. What should you repair? Where will your dollar work hardest? A Realtor will know.

Looking to the future may help you move on, but doing so without being informed can lead to further disappointment. Discovering your dream home is $50,000 beyond your buying ability can be crushing. Realtors understand house finances, credit, and specific loans to fit your situation, helping you dream in tandem with your financial reality.

Remember: Realtors Understand Emotions

My parents’ barn has new tin on it now. The pool is covered, the walls repainted. I can almost pretend the kitchen isn’t the same place I sat after basketball games to review every play with my dad. But deep down, it will always be, as Miranda Lambert says, “The house that built me.”

My mom cried when she read this post. Letting go of a home stirs emotions in all of us. But her experience as a real estate agent has enabled her to make the changes needed to get the best price. So when it’s time to buy or sell, call an agent. Let us be your objective sounding board so nostalgia doesn’t keep you from selling a home. [perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”#dd1f1f” class=”” size=””]Let us give you good information won from years of experience so you can plan a dream that’s possible to achieve.[/perfectpullquote]

Why You Should Hire a Realtor: Marketing

The Do-It-Yourself mentality is a beautiful part of the American spirit. TV channels, youtube videos, and countless blogs exist to equip people for everything from home repair to carpentry and oil changes. But when it comes to selling your home, DIY is probably not the best option. Marketing is today’s reason in our series Why You Should Hire a Realtor.

Marketing

Selling a home is an involved, multi-step process. But after the preparation dust settles, you’ll have to get the word out: “Beautiful home for a great price!” Sure, you can post to Facebook and tell your coworkers, but how likely are they to buy your house? The National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that only 8% of homes sold in 2016 were For Sale By Owner (FSBO). Furthermore, the median price for agent-assisted homes was $60,000 more than FSBO ($245,000 vs $185,000). If you like averaging more for your home’s sale, you may want to join the 92% of sellers with agents. And when you do, your agent should have tools to market effectively.

MLS

The most powerful resource an agent has is the multiple listing service (MLS). This database of listings allows for a property to be seen by all agents with access to that MLS, which means a larger audience of people specifically looking to buy. Purchasing an ad may reach a thousand people, but if only ten are looking to buy a house, how effective was the ad? The MLS also connects with websites like Trulia, Zillow, and Realtor.com (our recommended resource for home searches), allowing anyone with an internet connection to find your home and all its information.

Social Media

Any Realtor worth their salt is on social media in some way, shape, or form. Our Facebook Page is at the heart of our social media efforts, which also branch out into Google Plus, Youtube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. The modern world connects, buys, sells, loves, and hates through online social networks. Hiring a Realtor should mean a promise to use these avenues for your benefit so that their effort becomes your benefit.

Specialty (sites/relationship networks)

Finally, good Realtors tend to have an X factor that distinguishes them from the crowd. Here at East Texas Realty Group, we work for unbeatable customer service and a healthy online presence. We also constantly network to meet buyers, sellers, and the odd relationship that could come in handy sometime down the road. I’ve met Realtors in Dallas who make technology and “the paperless transaction” their X factor, so it depends on the market and what type of client relationship brokerages seek to have.

Conclusion

Selling your home can be scary in many ways, and having to market it might become the final straw during a stressful time. Find an agent that will advertise your property to your satisfaction and you’ll be on your way to reaching far more interested buyers than you ever could have done alone.

Why You Should Hire a Realtor: Knowledge and Experience

Why Hire a Realtor

Knowledge and experience are valuable commodities in every trade. Need surgery? You’re going to want a doctor, and that doctor will have spent a minimum of eleven years educating and training themselves to do what you need. [perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”#dd1f1f” class=”” size=””]Welcome to the latest in our series on Why You Should Hire a Realtor.[/perfectpullquote]

In legal trouble? Try a lawyer, who gave up seven to eight years for their title. And when it comes to car repair, home building, or even our appearance, we understand we need people with a specific set of skills for the job at hand. Real estate is no different.

Knowledge

Do you know how much value updated appliances add to your home? What about that HVAC you put in a year ago? Or can you figure out the going rate for an acre of land in your area? A good Realtor can.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”#dd1f1f” class=”” size=””]You need a Realtor.[/perfectpullquote]

Realtors become experts in their local market by learning values for land and commodities and using tools inaccessible to the public. They have also studied Texas law so they can help you navigate the legalities of negotiating an offer, getting a loan, and transferring title. There is nothing simple about buying and selling a house.

Do you need your offer to depend on the sale of your old home? Or determine which maintenance issues are most crucial to selling your home? Then you need a Realtor.

Experience

Of course, all the know-how in the world isn’t worth much if you haven’t used it. A good real estate agent will have seen scenarios so strange a fiction author couldn’t make them up. The bizarre is a given in this business, and while it’s stressful for agents, this fact of real estate is great for clients because almost nothing can surprise or stump an experienced Realtor.

A real estate agent is also beneficial for decisions you may have never faced. Most of us look to our past for help with big decisions, but if you’ve never purchased or sold your home before, you won’t have any experience to lean on. [perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”#dd1f1f” class=”” size=””]Let a professional add their knowledge and experience to the biggest financial decision of your life.[/perfectpullquote]