Do I need a real estate agent?

We think you have a right to know what these things are, so you can make an informed decision about selling your home and the best way to do it which of course is to engage us.  Our mission is to keep other agents honest.

Becoming a real estate agent is easy – no degree required.

In some states, the training and certification to become a real estate agent can be completed in a matter of days. Make sure you quiz your agent about their education, life skills and non-industry experience. Do they undertake ongoing professional development and if so with whom.

Many houses sell themselves.

Agents don’t have any special tools that ‘make’ somebody buy a house. Buyers tend to buy houses they like and can afford. Present your home well and it will sell quickly and easily.

These days, local market knowledge is available to everybody.

Thanks to websites like realestate.com.au and domain.com.au, you can get all the market info you need to sell your house, including suburb snapshots, previous sales data, demographic information etc. You can even buy the same detailed property and suburb reports that agents use from RP Data if you want to.

An agent’s ‘database of buyers’ is defunct.

These days, buyers don’t tend to sit around waiting on real estate agent’s databases to learn about properties coming onto the market. Buyers in the market are constantly changing. They’re also extremely active online doing their own research. This means any buyer sitting on an agent’s database are either no longer in the market, or you can access them directly via the two portals mentioned.

Some agents are guilty of over pricing your home, but why?

The real estate industry is extremely competitive. Agents must compete against other agents to win your sale. They know that money speaks and you’re more likely to sign with them if they value your home higher than the next agent. They also know they can gradually beat you down on price after your marketing campaign becomes stale and interest wains because, guess what? It’s too expensive.

Some agents are guilty of pricing your home too low, why.

While this practice (what we call underquoting) is now illegal in most states, it’s still happening. Underquoting is when an agent underquotes the value of your home to buyers to broaden the pool of interest. The problem here is that it alienates buyers and wastes their time. And why advertise to buyers that simply can’t afford your home?

Agents can compete with other agents from the same agency.

Most agencies tend to split the commission between the agent who lists your home, the agency itself and the agent who sells your home. The downside is agents may not refer buyers to the property of another agent within the same agency if they’re likely to miss out on commission. And that means your pool of buyers shrinks.

Your marketing campaign supports an agents marketing campaign.

Ever seen a house advertised without the real estate agency’s branding slapped all over it?  You pay for those expensive billboard campaigns prominently featuring your agent’s logo! Have no doubt about it… real estate agencies do very well out of their clients’ marketing campaigns.  Moreover, if a property fails to sell because its too expensive, the only one to gain is the agent with their name on the board outside the property.

What’s the answer?

If you feel comfortable with an agent, the likelihood is that any potential buyer will feel comfortable with them also.  If they are honest with you this will reflect during the marketing campaign.  It’s pivotal that the appraised value of a home is as near as possible aligned with market expectations.  Statistically, sellers over price by 12.5% and buyers offer 4.5% less.  An accurate appraisal will attract more interested parties and accordingly generate competition and a satisfactory sale price.

So, do I need a real estate agent?

The simple answer is yes.  I won’t bore you here with a detailed explanation, just call for a chat or look over our Seniors Real Estate website.