One of the most common beliefs when it comes to real estate agents is that all they do is list your home and then wait for other agents to show it. But the reality is that selling real estate is a complicated process, and what agents do on a day to day basis is much more than just taking clients to homes. They have to do marketing to sell the homes, keep up with the market, keep in touch with database changes, and make sure that they are properly planning home showings around everyone’s schedule.
Providing Connections
Some of the most important things that a real estate agent can do for you are to connect you with lenders in your area, connect you with inspectors, and guide you through the whole process—a process that can seem overwhelming when you end up having to do it without any assistance. Having a trustworthy lender, inspector and other professionals involved takes a lot of the stress out of the process. Real estate agents work with you to find out exactly what you want from the transaction and can help you act in a way to protect your interests.
They will also act to make sure that anyone who is seeing your home or any home you are seeing is qualified and will work with that situation. They can help reach out to the professionals that the other parties have used, including their loan officer or inspector. This will save everyone’s time, as it can take several weeks for an offer to close. You don’t want to get to the end of the process and suddenly realize that the buyer cannot actually fulfill their end of the deal.
Helping with Staging
Another important thing that real estate agents can help you with is staging your home. While they are not professional stagers, they do in fact know a lot about the basics behind making a home look good to potential buyers. They can also find you a professional stager, but if you don’t need one you might as well make use of your agent’s advice.
Avoiding Overpricing
Agents also make sure that you are selling your home for a proper price. One of the most common pieces of advice given in real estate is that by accidentally overpricing your home, you actually end up losing out on initial interest that occurs when a property is first listed. Trying to cut the price later will result in the home being stuck on the market, and you will probably need to sell for less anyways.
Finding Temporary Housing
If you are going to have time between selling your home and buying your next one, a realtor can also help refer you to rental properties in Lockhart or somewhere temporary to live. Some either know leasing agents or have access to a network of rental properties, and some can even help you find someone to manage your home if you want to rent it out before selling it.
Being Your Safety Net
Finally, they are there to catch any problems. A good agent will be there to read the fine print, to make sure all offers are filled out as specified, to make sure that everything runs smoothly, and to make sure that you have the easiest experience possible.
