Why you still need a Real Estate Agent to sell your house

Will you really save Thousands of Dollars trying to sell your house yourself?

Nationwide 10% of homeowners attempt to sell their homes without using a professional Realtor®.  In Nevada that number is even less.   80% of those that try to sell their own home will end up hiring a Realtor® to sell their home.  Buying and selling a home is one of the largest financial experiences of your life.  There are good reasons to have a Realtor® ® represent you through the process.

Price: Professional Realtor® s have access to up to the minute market conditions and current sales information.  They know why homes in the same neighborhood can sell at $120 per sq. foot or $200 per sq. foot.  All houses are not created equal even though they may be the same floor plan.  They know what your home is worth and work to get you the most money for your home.  On average a Realtor® will sell your home for 15% more than the average For Sale by Owner sale.   No matter how low you price your home when trying to sell it yourself…. Buyers without Realtor® s will always want to deduct normal commission costs since you are not using a Realtor®.  They are looking for a bargain and hoping to take advantage of an unknowing seller.

Qualified Buyers:   Is that couple that found your home on Zillow or Craig’s list qualified to buy your house or are they just dreamers?  Worse yet are they there to see what you have in your home to return later when you’re not home?    Realtor® s are trained to ask qualifying questions to determine the seriousness, qualification and motivation of a prospect. Realtor® s are also trained to ask closing questions about how long buyers have been looking, whether they’ve seen any other homes that would work for their needs, if they are paying cash or have been prequalified, what schools they are looking for and so on. They are not looking to waste your time or theirs showing your house to people that are window shopping.

Marketing and Exposure: You can put up a yard sign, place ad’s in the newspaper and on line.  Realtor® s expose your home to thousands of other agents and buyers within hours.  Most professional Realtor® s have an Internet presence that presents your house to thousands of people. The Realtor® bears the cost.  It is to their advantage to find a buyer for your home as quickly as possible. Many professional Realtor® s have thousands of social media followers. The reach of exposure is far greater.  It just might be your house.

Time to sell:  The average time For Sale by Owner sales is six to nine months.  Most homes listed and sold by a professional Realtor® are on the market less than Sixty days from listing until closing of the sale.

Knowledge of the Laws:  A lot of legal paperwork is involved in a home sale and it needs to be completed correctly. One of the most important items is the seller’s disclosures. A seller of real estate has a duty to disclose any fact that materially affects the value or desirability of the property. The seller can be held liable for fraud, negligence or breach of contract if he/she does not disclose properly.

If you fail to disclose a hazard, nuisance or defect and the buyer comes back to you after they’ve moved in and found a problem, they could sue you. Agents can make mistakes but they have professional errors-and-omissions insurance to protect themselves and to give the buyer recourse so the buyer may not need to pursue the seller for damages.

Finding the right experienced Realtor® to sell your house:          There are Thousands of agents in the Las Vegas valley.  Before the downturn in the last 2000’s there was over twenty thousand agents.  That dropped to about seven thousand agents.  Today that number has grown to close to fifteen thousand agents.

Which one is right for you?  First, do they specialize in your type of home and in your area?  Many agents have years of experience working in one main area.  They do this so that they become the most knowledgeable of the homes in that area.  They know what people want in their area.  They have buyers that come to them because of their knowledge.  Many Realtors® work with nothing but new homes or high priced homes or suburban. It takes someone different when dealing with Mid Century Modern and Vintage era homes.  You have a special type of seller and buyer when dealing with older homes.  Even the disclosures are different than with new homes.

Jack LeVine has been trusted by well over a thousand clients in the last 27 years. He gets the job done – gets it done right. No other agent in Las Vegas has the depth of knowledge and experience that Jack has of the vintage neighborhoods, the mindset of buyers for 50 or 60 year old homes, and the special things that dramatically affect the value of a vintage home.

If you want to sell your Vintage Las Vegas era home – Call or email Jack LeVine of Very Vintage Vegas Realty – 702-378-7055 [email protected]

And by the way – Here is a great article that highlights the founder of Forsalebyowner.com.  He tried and tried to sell his New York condo himself and was unsuccessful. After hiring a Realtor® he quickly sold the property and for $150,000 ABOVE his original asking price.