Sometimes selling a house is quick and easy, but not always. I’ve put together a top ten list of reasons to hire a realtor and included it below, but the two premier reasons are concrete—homes with realtors sell for 13% higher than fsbos, and homes sold by realtors get far more exposure to qualified buyers..

My name is Wade Wilson, I’m a realtor with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty. We sell more houses in this region than any other company. If you're considering using a realtor to help you sell your home, I have some ideas and I'd love to have a chance to talk with you.

If you’d like to talk further please give me a call, anytime at 619-3502.

Ten Reasons why hiring an agent is better than selling yourself

1. MLS Access
The primary way that buyers find homes is utilizing the MLS system. A buyer can use the MLS to find properties within a certain area, size and price. The system will also do searches for more specific requirements, from garage size to type of fireplace.

2. Other Websites
The only way that sellers can have their homes featured on many websites is to be listed on the MLS. The MLS automatically uplinks home listings to hundreds of other websites that buyers use to look for property. Many newcomers to our area begin the home search prior to the their first visit. Your home will not be seen by these buyers.

3. Finding Buyers
Real Estate Companies are in the business of finding buyers and sellers. Chances are there is a realtor out there right now who has a buyer looking for your house. Realtors program the MLS system to notify them the instant that new homes enter the MLS system. Those realtors will likely not find your house if it is for sale by owner.

4. Pricing
Realtors have a variety of tools for setting the right price on a home. Many For Sale by Owners will start with a price that is more than they expect and then reduce it when they don’t get offers. How many buyers will you miss doing it this way?

5. Getting Qualified Buyers
There are countless stories of sellers who think they have sold their property only to find that the buyer doesn’t qualify for a loan. This could take weeks or months to determine, and your home will be off the market and miss other chances for sales during that time period.

6. Personal Safety
Chances are you wouldn’t let people you don’t know have full access to your house while you and your family are there. If you are selling the home yourself, you will have no choice but to let strangers have that kind of access. Realtors qualify buyers prior to home tours, accompany them on showings, and allow you the freedom and safety of not being present.

7. Negotiating
It is always more difficult to negotiate terms of a deal when you must do it directly with a buyer. This could lead you to make more concessions than necessary, make less money than planned, or cause the deal to collapse completely. A Realtor provides a qualified intermediary voice in negotiations.

8. Expense
Advertising. Signs. Flyers. All these things cost you time and money. If it takes time to sell, there are also costs to holding property, from mortgage payments to utilities. When you use a realtor you don’t have expenses until they deliver a closed deal.

9. Legal Representation
The basic Offer to Purchase and Contract form used by Realtors is eight pages long. A great deal of care and work has been put into this by legal experts and the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, to assure that all important issues are disclosed and all parties are protected. Both the buyer and the seller have a myriad of contingent responsibilites in a real estate transaction. Using a realtor will help you avoid potentially catastrophic legal liabilities.

10. Hassle
One of the main reasons people use Realtors is that they handle all the difficulties involved in a real estate transaction, outlined in numbers 1-9. Save yourself a headache or two. Hire a qualified Realtor to inform, protect and complete your sales transaction fast and easy.

If ten reasons aren’t enough, consider one additional reason to use a Realtor:
Nationally, homes sold by Realtors sell for 13% more than homes sold directly by owners. Save yourself some time, money and trouble. Hire a Realtor!