Benefit #2: A Real Estate Agent Will Provide Constructive Criticism
This advantage of using a real estate agent is not always a given. You need to ask your real estate agent to give you an honest opinion of what needs to be done to your house to get in selling condition. This goes beyond the obvious – fixing the gate, painting walls, replacing doors with holes, etc. I’m talking about things we would not notice, things such as excessive clutter. Maybe there are way too many pictures on the wall which may make a room appear smaller, or the kitchen counter is full of really nice appliances that give the sense of ‘no counter space’. In our own eyes some things can be OK or even appealing, but you have to remember you need to make the home appealing to prospective buyers, not to yourself.
When you list your home as a for sale by owner you don’t have this outside set of eyes to provide this valuable input. If you go with FSBO make sure you ask a neighbor, friend, relative or colleague to do this for you. Make sure you ask for an honest opinion and make sure you are not offended by the feedback. Many real estate agents don’t mention things that need to be improved, moved or removed simply because the last think they want to do is to offend their customers.
A seasoned real estate agent will also make you aware of things that will come up as “defective” on a home inspection. When a buyer makes an offer and proceeds to do a home inspection things will come up, every home inspector will find something, even in a brand new house. If you can take care of the little things – fixing screens, fixing a leaky faucet, repairing a receptacle, etc. – you will minimize the amount of things “wrong” with your house. A buyer may be turned off if he or she hears a home inspector go on and on and on about all the things that are sub-standard with the house. Real estate agents should be with their customers during the home inspections so they know all the things that turn up. Your agent should have sold several houses and should have this experience.
Remember to ask an outside party for an opinion on the showing condition of your house, it is well worth it.
The Housing Ecologist
This advantage of using a real estate agent is not always a given. You need to ask your real estate agent to give you an honest opinion of what needs to be done to your house to get in selling condition. This goes beyond the obvious – fixing the gate, painting walls, replacing doors with holes, etc. I’m talking about things we would not notice, things such as excessive clutter. Maybe there are way too many pictures on the wall which may make a room appear smaller, or the kitchen counter is full of really nice appliances that give the sense of ‘no counter space’. In our own eyes some things can be OK or even appealing, but you have to remember you need to make the home appealing to prospective buyers, not to yourself.
When you list your home as a for sale by owner you don’t have this outside set of eyes to provide this valuable input. If you go with FSBO make sure you ask a neighbor, friend, relative or colleague to do this for you. Make sure you ask for an honest opinion and make sure you are not offended by the feedback. Many real estate agents don’t mention things that need to be improved, moved or removed simply because the last think they want to do is to offend their customers.
A seasoned real estate agent will also make you aware of things that will come up as “defective” on a home inspection. When a buyer makes an offer and proceeds to do a home inspection things will come up, every home inspector will find something, even in a brand new house. If you can take care of the little things – fixing screens, fixing a leaky faucet, repairing a receptacle, etc. – you will minimize the amount of things “wrong” with your house. A buyer may be turned off if he or she hears a home inspector go on and on and on about all the things that are sub-standard with the house. Real estate agents should be with their customers during the home inspections so they know all the things that turn up. Your agent should have sold several houses and should have this experience.
Remember to ask an outside party for an opinion on the showing condition of your house, it is well worth it.
The Housing Ecologist
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