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Why Should I Use a Real Estate Agent? Can't I save Thousands by Selling it Myself? A Real Estate Office in your Town has a Really Low Commission Rate. Why not Use Them?

Why Should I Use a Real Estate Agent? Can't I save Thousands by Selling it Myself? Yes and No. To answer the question, one would have to explore the reason a buyer would seek out a FSBO (For Sale by Owner) in the first place. As the buyer in most cases do not pay a real estate commission to an agent, the motivation would have to be to save money or to take advantage of a un-sophisticated seller. It is already a known fact statistically that a for sell by owner home typically sells for 16% less than a home sold and listed with a real estate company. This is a big difference from the 5-7% you might pay a real estate office which has the expertise, the national exposure and the contacts to get your home sold. It is quite likely that someone from outside the area would eventually buy your home and the FSBO can only rely on local marketing and a chance drive by to attract buyers. There is to many homes available on the MLS which the local agent and buyers can search find to limit your buyer prospects this way. Choose a international firm like Coldwell Banker and your home will be sold. A Real Estate Office in your Town has a Really Low Commission Rate. Why not Use Them? On the outside this would make a lot of sense. The more you save in fees, the more you net at closing. However this is a trap that hurts a seller in the end and often prevents your home from being marketed fully or even shown to prospective buyers. To explain, I will start with how the commissions are split. Let us say that you negotiate a 6% commission. (All Commissions are negotiable). The selling broker who brings in an accepted offer is usually offered half of this commission in what we call a cooperative agreement with all other real estate offices. Depending on the agent's split agreement with his or her office, this fee can be split in half again leaving the selling agent with 1.5% of the actual selling price. To further illustrate, we will discuss the buyer who approaches a real estate office searching for property in a certain criteria. Let's say that I have found 30 properties that meet the buyer's criteria. This is a large list and must be whittled down somewhat into more advanced criterion. While it has always been my practice to show the buyer the closest properties to their criteria regardless of the commission offered, one could easily understand while some would not. After all, the work of offer to escrow to closing is the same regardless of the agent's pay. A seller would want their home on every list to be showed to every prospective buyer. Most international firms like Coldwell Banker have a marketing plan that works. With our extensive marketing strategy, it requires an investment on our part to accomplish the end result. A cut-rate commission would result in a deviation from the successful marketing strategy that works. A budget office can not afford to give you the service it would take to maximize your chances of getting your home sold. We are a full-service office and would not disservice you by offering a cut-rate commission or marketing plan.

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