With so many services and companies out there that help homebuyers and sellers complete their own real estate transactions you may be wondering whether using a real estate agent is an absolute necessity. As a home seller, doing the work yourself can save you the 5 to 6% commissions that many Tampa real estate agents charge. But for many, attempting to handle a real estate sale on your own may not be the way to go and could end up being more costly than a commission in the long run. Buying or selling a home is a major financial and emotional undertaking.
Here’s a couple of reasons you might want to use an experienced realtor.
It’s the job of a real estate agent to act as a liaison between buyers and sellers. This means that he or she will have easy access to all other properties listed by other agents and will know what needs to be done to get a deal together.
If you are looking to buy a home in the Tampa Bay area, a real-estate agent can easily find homes that meet your criteria, get in touch with sellers' agents and make appointments for you to view the homes. If you are buying on your own, you will have to play this telephone tag yourself. This may be especially difficult if you're shopping for homes that are for sale by owner.
Similarly, if you are looking to sell your home yourself, you will have to take calls from interested parties, answer questions and make appointments. Keep in mind that potential buyers are likely to move on if you tend to be busy or don't respond quickly enough. Alternatively, you may find yourself making an appointment and rushing home, only to find that no showed up or bothered to cancel the appointment. This is a very common occurrence.
These are just a few of the reasons you might want to consider using a realtor to handle your home sale or purchase. I will outline more in upcoming blogs.