Are you thinking of selling your home and wondering if you really need to hire a realtor? In this video,  I’m going to walk you through the pros and cons of hiring a realtor so you can make a decision that’s best for you. Because selling a home is one of the largest financial decisions a person will ever make, it’s important to consider if and how hiring a realtor can provide you with any advantages in the home selling process.
The Pros And Cons Of Hiring A Realtor
Because there are many moving parts and behind-the-scenes work that go into selling a house, many people find hiring a realtor necessary to navigate the process. Others wonder if they can simply do it themselves. Here are some factors to take into consideration to help you decide for yourself.
Paperwork And Disclosures
Did you know that in San Diego we have all kinds of local area disclosures that people need to be aware of? For example, military ordinances, earthquake fault lines, and flood zones are a small example of things people should know about—but often don’t. By the time you get finished writing a contract, you’ve probably signed about a hundred documents that all have legal repercussions, liabilities, and responsibilities you may not fully understand.
The purchase agreement alone, for example, is anywhere from 25 to 40 pages—and that’s on the short side. This is only the purchase agreement; you then need to add local air disclosures, natural hazard disclosures, and seller property disclosures for another 800 pages. However, if you’ve recently bought or sold property here in San Diego and have buckets of time, you might not need a realtor.
Facilitating The Transaction
Another pro of hiring a realtor is the facilitation of the transaction. There are so many different aspects that go into selling a house, particularly here in California. Believe it or not, facilitating these kinds of transactions is a full-time job. For example, when you are selling your home on your own, you are responsible for the marketing, the showings, and the feedback. When you get your home into contract, you then have to worry about organizing the inspection and making requests for repairs with different professionals, which can include foundation people, the plumber, the electrician, and the roofer. Next, you have to worry about the appraisal, negotiating any difference between an appraised value and a contract purchase value.
If you know how to do all these things from facilitating the transaction until the end, you probably don’t need a realtor.
Realtor Commission
Aside from the previous two pros of hiring a realtor to sell your home, we do need to mention a con. It’s a common one that most people want to know: what is it going to cost? The real question you should be asking yourself is not what the realtor commission is, but rather if the realtor that’s involved in your transaction is worth the cost. When you hire a realtor and you pay a commission, it’s an investment. If you invest in a realtor, will they give you a return on investment? A good realtor should yield you a much better sales price than you could get on your own, which will cover their commission and then some.
Should You Hire A Realtor?
I hope this gives you some great insights into the pros and cons of whether or not to hire a real estate agent. It really shouldn’t be a question of if you should hire a real estate agent—rather, it should be which one? The first thing you need to do is understand what your realtors’ roles are. The second thing you need to do is find the right one. Hiring the right real estate agent can be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make while hiring the wrong real estate agent can be one of the worst decisions. If you have any additional questions about how to sell your home, I would love to talk to you. Please feel free to reach out to me and I’d be happy to connect!