Why You Should Work with a Realtor

Florida Realtors, which is our state’s largest trade association, always publishes interesting articles – interesting to realtors, at least! One article that I particularly liked is “5 Hard-to-Ignore Reasons Why You Should Always Work With a Realtor.” To a lot of people out there, this piece might elicit eye rolls because they think that buying a home is just glorified shopping and that all it takes to sell a property is a for sale sign in their front lawn. However, making the purchase or sale of your life really does require more than that!

Here are the 5 reasons to work with a realtor that are listed in the Florida Realtors article:

1. Realtors have a code of ethics
2. We know the market
3. We are professionals when it comes to marketing property
4. Negotiating is in our blood
5. We know the real estate laws

Click this link to read the full article, which is chock full of good information!

I think that in this busy Miami real estate market, the second point that Florida Realtors makes is the most important. Realtors know the market. That not only means that we know the inventory, but we are aware of recent sales, we know how to price homes, how to prepare for an appraisal, and the like. Additionally, we speak to other realtors all day, every day so we have an inside track on new listings, buyers who are looking for specific types of property, and even new and interesting home trends that might make your property more enticing to a buyer!

Point number four is also pretty impactful, as it pertains to realtors’ ability to negotiate. The article reads, “Consider this: The average selling price for a "for sale by owner" home was $208,700 compared with $235,000 for an agent-assisted sale, according to 2016 numbers from NAR, which points up that the odds of getting the price you want (and maybe even more), increase when you have a seasoned expert at your side. And a bigger profit means you can still walk away with the cash you hoped for.” I have seen this firsthand recently – homes sold by owner that would have sold at a higher price if a realtor had listed them. These by owner sales were underpriced to a point that if a realtor had listed them at the correct market value, then the seller would have walked away with more money in their pocket, even after paying commission.

Between realtors’ knowledge of the market and our ability to negotiate the strongest position for either a buyer or a seller, it always makes sense to use a realtor. Feel free to call me with any questions, or for assistance with buying or selling your home.