With so much information readily available online, clients sometimes ask me, “Why should we hire a real estate agent?

1) Education and Experience

You don’t need to know everything about buying and selling real estate if you hire a real estate professional who does. Henry Ford once said that when you hire people who are smarter than you, it proves you are smarter than they are. The trick is to find the right real estate agent. For the most part, they all cost the same. Why not hire an agent with more education and experience than you? Hiring a real estate agent will save you time and provide you with new knowledge.

2) Agents are Buffers

Agents take the spam out of your property showings and visits. If you are a buyer of new homes, your agent should whip out their sword and keep the builders agents at bay, preventing them from pressuring you into a decision. If you’re a seller, your agent will filter all those phone calls and emails that lead to nowhere from “lookie loos” and try to induce serious buyers to immediately write an offer.

3) Neighborhood Knowledge

Agents either have knowledge or know where to find the industry buzz about the neighborhood of interest. They can identify comparable sales and hand these facts to you, in addition to pointing you in the right direction where you can find more data on schools, crime or demographics. For example you may know that a house on your block was listed for $325, 000, but a realtor, will know what features the house had and that it sold for $312,000 after 128 days on the market and after two offers fell through.

4) Market Condition Information

Realtors can disclose market conditions, which will influence your selling or buying decision. Data such as average cost per square foot to build new homes, average selling price for similar houses, average number of days on market, list to sell price differences, can play a big role in what you ultimately decide to do.

5) Professional Networking

Realtors network with other Realtors and other professionals; many of who provide services that you will need to buy or sell (lawyers, financial institutions, other realtors).

Realtors also attend training regularly in which they are in contact with many other Realtors

Realtors due to legal liabilities hesitate to comment on another Realtor or Realtors office and their ability to perform, but should it be necessary for a referral a realtor should be able to point you in the right direction. An agent should have a list of references with whom they have worked with or had contact with that would be able to carry out your real estate needs.

6) Negotiation Skills & Confidentiality

Top realtors negotiate well because, unlike most buyers and sellers, they can remove themselves from the emotional aspects of the transaction and because they are skilled. It’s part of their job description. Good realtors are not messengers, delivering buyer’s offers to sellers and vice versa. They are professionals who are trained to present their clients case in the best light and agree to hold client information completely confidential from competing interests.

7) Handling The Paperwork

One-paged deposit receipts were useful in the 70s and 80s. Today the purchase/listing agreements can be in excess of 10 pages. That does not include title search, disclosure statements, water sample results, explanation for an easement, right of way, covenant or a number of any other papers relevant. Most real estate files average 1-2 inches in thickness all paper. On tiny mistake or omission could land a realtor in court or cost them thousands.

8)Develop Relationships for Future Business

The basis for a successful realtor and continued career in real estate is referrals. Few agents would survive if it depended on them constantly drumming up new business. This emphasis gives realtor a strong incentive to make sure their clients are happy. Most realtors will periodically mail valuable market info to you to keep you informed and to keep in touch.