7 Benefits of Hiring a Real Estate Agent

Whether you want to buy your first home or sell your current property because you are downsizing, you want to ensure that you get the best deal.

Trying to do it yourself is a bad idea because searching for buyers or sellers is a time-consuming and exhaustive process, and real estate transactions are complicated. You may want to hire a real estate agent.

Here are 7 benefits of hiring a real estate agent:

1. Agents have extensive market knowledge.
2. They have access to off-market lists.
3. Their savvy marketing skills might be better than yours.
4. They can negotiate.
5. They handle the paperwork.
6. The closing process will go smoother.
7. You will save time and money.

This article will show you that trying to sell your home or buy a property without a real estate agent won’t save money or time. 

It will also show you that a real estate agent can help you save time, money, energy, and future legal hassles as you search for your dream home or the best quote for your current home.

Read on to learn in detail the benefits of hiring a real estate agent.

1. Agents Have Extensive Market Knowledge

You might be selling or buying a property probably for the first time, but real estate agents buy and sell properties daily as part of their jobs. 

They must be on top of the trends and market conditions of the real estate scene.  On the other hand, you don’t have the energy and time to learn about the market. 

Experienced and reputable real estate agents have extensive knowledge on all aspects of the housing market such as:

• Street-by-street and house-by-house conditions for both buyers’ and sellers’ markets.
• Real estate comparables or comps that they use to provide you with pricing guidance.
• Median and average sales prices.
• Ratios of list-to-sold prices.
• Average price per square foot of similar properties.
• Mortgage interest rates.

Real estate agents can help you find just the right house for your needs because they also know about:

• Neighborhoods: With their extensive knowledge of neighborhoods, your real estate agent can tell you where you should buy a house if you want to live near excellent schools.
• Zoning ordinances: Real estate agents know about zoning ordinances and will tell you where to buy a house if you want to convert the front parlor to a gift store or fence your backyard for your pet.
• The resale value of properties: Agents know which neighborhoods have seen the most significant increase in property values in recent years. With this information, you can zero in on a property that has a high resale value.

2. They Have Access to Off-Market Lists

Not everybody wants to advertise that they are selling their homes. It may be that a divorce proceeding is underway, or the seller doesn’t want their neighbors to know about the sale.

So, these people do not advertise their homes on MLS listings or property search websites.  The only people in the know are real estate agents, as they can help you find these off-market properties that are usually priced cheap and guarantee excellent ROI. 

3. Their Savvy Marketing Skills Might Be Better Than Yours

If you’re selling your property, your home has to stand out from similar homes in the market in a comparable price range. Only savvy marketing can help your listing grab eyeballs. 

Real estate agents have a range of marketing skills to get your home noticed, such as:

• They are experts at staging and decorating properties and can even make uninspiring spaces look inviting.
• They take photographs and shoot videos that highlight and magnify the positives of a property.
• They have a sizable following on social media and can reach out to thousands of potential buyers.

4. They Can Negotiate

Real estate negotiations can be complex, and you need to be quite savvy to clinch the best deal. Agents are superb negotiators because they have experience and insider knowledge of how the real estate market works. 

They know the trends and can analyze the real estate comps of your area to understand what should be the right price of a property.

You can be confident that if a real estate agent assists you, you will never have to pay more than what a house is worth or sell your home for less than its value.

5. They Handle the Paperwork

Real estate transactions generate a ton of paperwork. They include the following:

• The written offer.
• The written and signed counteroffer.
• Settlement statements.
• Documents listing the repairs undertaken on the property.
• The terms and conditions of the sale.
• Federal and state-mandated disclosures.
• Mortgage documents. 

And then are the countless boxes to tick and the innumerable details to fill out in the forms. It’s easy to get lost in the maze of papers and miss a crucial detail.

Incorrect or incomplete paperwork can stall sales and lead to costly delays.  A real estate agent knows how to handle the paperwork because it is their job to know, and they deal with it regularly.

6. The Closing Process Will Go Smoother

It is common for real estate sales deals to get stuck in the final hours. For instance, you may suddenly discover that one relative in a long list of titleholders has not yet signed off on the sale.

Or, maybe the lender is not honoring the timeline for financing.  Real estate agents have the expertise, knowledge, clout, and connections to work through issues that crop up and stall a sale. 

An experienced agent knows what to watch out for and can spot red flags in the early stages of the deal. They ensure that everybody involved in the transaction works to resolve the issues so that the deal is signed off without hitches or delays.

7. You Will Save Time and Money

Here’s how working with a professional real estate agent saves your precious time:

• You don’t have to pore over endless listings to find sellers or buyers. 
• You don’t have to spend time marketing your property. 
• You don’t have to make appointments for open homes and showings or go on countless home-shopping trips.
• You don’t have to answer numerous phone calls and answer lengthy emails, especially those that lead to nowhere.
• You don’t have to spend time doing lengthy and complex paperwork. 

The superb negotiation skills of professional real estate agents and their knowledge of the market help you find lucrative deals that save you money. 

According to the National Association of Realtors®' 2020 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, the median price of homes sold by agents was $242,300.

It is significantly more than the median price of homes sold exclusively by their owners, which is $217,900.  So if you hire a real estate agent, you can more than likely make more money on your sale, if you’re selling your house, that is.