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There are many important reasons to use a REALTOR®. Some of the duties your REALTOR® will perform for you include:
- Walking through the process of selling your home from beginning to end
- Providing comparable information about the prices for which other properties have sold and analyzing data for you to gain a true comparison
- Supplying information regarding local customs and regulations you may want to consider
- Sharing information about your home through the Multiple Listing Service and on the Internet
- Placing advertisements for your home Fielding phone calls
- "Qualifying" potential buyers to make sure they would be financially able to buy your property
- Negotiating the sales contract
- Alerting you to potential risks
- Complying with the disclosures required by law
- Providing you with an estimate of the closing costs you will incur
- Helping you prepare for a smooth closing of the transaction.
- Selling on your own
"You can get rid of the broker, but you cannot get rid of the broker's work" is an old caution for those who intend to offer their homes "For Sale By Owner" (FSBO). Selling on your own is not an easy undertaking. It requires a significant amount of time to study the process, understand your obligations, and do some of the complicated work that a real estate agent does. In addition, selling on your own requires extra help from outside professionals, such as a REALTORS®, accountants or attorneys for some of the jobs that require specific expertise.
The following are some major pitfalls to avoid:
- As a personal safety measure, only show your house to those individuals with whom you've made a prior appointment that's been confirmed by phone.
- Don't price the house so low that it sells too quickly - pay for a market value appraisal by an experienced appraiser.
- Hold out for a buyer with written pre-qualification from a lending institution.
- Find out your legal obligations.
If you require only limited services, some REALTORS® will agree to help with the transaction for a predetermined fee. You can call real estate companies and ask for the managing broker and see if they're interested in furnishing "unbundled services."
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