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Real Estate Agents: Pros And Cons

By: Craig Stanford

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All of us like to keep as much of our money as we can. It's human nature. So when we make one of the biggest sales of our lives, we have to pause for a moment when we think about spending thousands of dollars on a real estate agent to handle the sale.

One of the biggest reasons that someone hires a real estate agent comes down to just one thing: time. If someone is selling a house, then they are probably looking for a new house or are shopping for items for a new house. They won't have the time to advertise, take calls, show the house, handle the negotiations and close the deal.

In my state of Oregon, agents are tested and then if they pass, they are granted a license to sell real estate by the state. Applicants sign up for a class at the end of which they take their real estate license test.

When selling your house, one of the first things that you need to do is set an accurate asking price. This can be tough to do if you have very little idea what the local market is doing. A real estate professional has spent many hours going through the local listings and showing local houses, so he or she may have a far better idea as to what your house is worth.

Another area where real estate agents have a lot of experience is in negotiations. If more that one party wants your house, a skilful negotiator may be able to get more that the asking price for your house.

If you're thinking about selling your house by yourself, ask yourself how much do you know about escrow, inspection, appraisal, earnest money and closing? Think about all of these items when you are thinking about whether to hire a real estate pro.

Of course, it is still legal in most areas to sell your own house. The main reason that most people opt to sell their own house is to save on realtor fees.

I bought my first house in 1984 for $40,000.00. The seller probably paid the real estate agent about $500.00.I could probably sell the house now for $300,000.00. If I figured the same percentage, the commission would be a whopping $15,000.00. This is a lot of money. After thinking about the money I could save, it's easy to why a lot of people seriously ponder being their own real estate agent.

The thing that I have to keep in mind is that I have experienced a significant amount of equity appreciation in the last 23 years. The trouble is; I won't see any of that appreciation unless I sell the house.

If you're confident that your house will sell for a great deal, perhaps you can talk your agent into accepting a flat fee for the transaction.

If I did sell the house myself I could lower the asking price by the amount equal to what a real estate agent would charge or if I could get my full asking price, or I could keep all of the profits, but this would be a gamble.

Whether or not you decide to sell you own home will be up to you. Your decision will be based mainly on whether you have the time available, the patience, the knowledge and the confidence

In summary, I can understand the peace of mind that comes from hiring a real estate professional, but then maybe I just lack the confidence. My hope is that you can use the above paragraphs to honestly evaluate your strengths and weaknesses when deciding whether or not to hire a real estate professional to help with your sale.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Craig Stanford has followed the real estate market as much as he can. He has a rental house, so he has to keep up with what is happening. If you want to learn about real estate also, check out Craig's website at: online-relocation-info.com/real-estate/

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