1 PRICELESS KNOWLEDGE
It is with good reason that estate agents these days must meet stringent educational requirements and commit to continuous training. There’s the constant changes to legislation governing property transactions, e.g. certificates of compliance to have that agents are aware of, but private sellers wouldn’t generally know about. Agents are equipped to guide sellers through the entire selling process: responding to initial enquiries, sifting through the callers, showing the property, responding to questions and concerns and finally closing the deal. Sellers inexperienced to the property market, could find themselves making ‘repairs’ which in reality are improvements.
Your knowledge and experience of the property transaction process is priceless and can’t be obtained with a few quick searches on Google.
2 TIME
Selling property successfully is a full-time job. This is something people thinking of selling their own property don’t realise until they are in the process. They need to consider whether they are prepared to deal with calls from prospective buyers and repeat showing of the property, even on weekends.
As an estate agent it is part and parcel of your job to do follow-up calls and to be available to assist interested buyers. Everyone’s time is valuable these days. Point out to private sellers that you will be saving them a lot of hassle.
Selling a property is often an emotional experience for a seller. Having an estate agent puts a little more distance between them and the selling process where as dealing directly could lead to them making costly mistakes such as overpricing or on the other hand settling too easily for an offer that is below market-value because they feel pressurised to sell. As their agent, and without any emotional ties to the property, you are in a better position to objectively focus on getting them the best deal possible for their property. 4 KNOWING THE PLAYING FIELD
You as the agent would know a vast array of contacts that could assist in bringing in prospective buyers as you know the role players in the property industry. Tell your private seller what the extent of your marketing campaign on his/her behalf will be and they will soon see the value of what you have to offer.
5 MARKETING
Proper marketing these days entail far more than merely posting a few snapshots on Facebook and maybe placing a classified ad in the classified section of the local newspaper. As estate agent you know best what marketing strategy to apply to best reach the intended target market (and you are also better qualified to know which market segment to target). You know how a property and its interior should be photographed to best display the strengths of the property.
Hosting show days can be very stressful to private owners. As their agent, you take over the responsibility of ensuring the property is displayed at its best and you can advise the seller on simple things they can do to make the property more attractive. You also take the responsibility to make sure the necessary safety measures are in place.
All in all, it is smart for private sellers to let estate agents market their properties.