Does having a Realtor on your side make a difference? As a Realtor, of course, I will tell you YES! But, as a facts girl, I want to give you the numbers on WHY having a Realtor-especially an experienced one-will make a difference.
Let’s start with an example.
I had a home to price in Payson, Utah. Two homes that were very similar to this home had recently sold, one for $240,000 and the other for $272,000. There’s a great discrepancy in those prices! What made the difference here?
They tie into the four most common questions that I get as a Realtor.
1- What repairs do I need to do?
In this case, the $272,000 home was fully flipped, though it did not have a new roof or a garage, nor did they update the lava-stone fireplace in the basement. However, it DID have a new kitchen, new pain/carpets, and fully updated bathrooms. From this, I can see a costly repair like a roof or fireplace wouldn’t be necessary for our example home.
The $240,000 home, sadly, was in good shape, but had poor photography, wasn’t staged, and had badly done marketing, causing them to get less interest and fewer offers.
So, to tell you what repairs you need to do- I ask- what has the competition been doing successfully? Often, you can get away WITHOUT costly updates and repairs.
2-What will my home sell for?
Once repairs have been decided on, I can look at three additional types of data:
1-homes in your price point that have expired (houses the were on the market so long that the seller gave up)
2-prices on active homes that are for sale that moment- are they listing for higher than that $272,000? Lower?
3-Homes that have just gone under contract (judging by how quickly they’ve gone under contract, I can have a good idea of whether they went for their listing price or not).
My personal average right now is 100%- meaning that on average, the price I list a home for is the price it will sell for. Sometimes it’s higher or lower, but I do maintain an average of 100% here!
3- How long will it take?
If you’re in the average price point, the market is currently at 30 days (though my personal average is 15 days, meaning I get homes under contract twice as fast as the market average due to marketing and prep work!). We price it aggressively to get it under contract quickly and get you the most offers, which means YOU get the best price.
4- What does it cost to sell my home?
If you don’t offer a full 3% to the buyer’s agents, there are those who simply won’t bring their clients to you. I’ve found the best way to get the most buyers (and offers!) is to offer the full 3%. Although a
buyer CAN ask for up to 3% in closing costs, I can negotiate for you to get less than that and save you extra money!
Half of my clients pay nothing at all in closing costs- and almost none of my other clients paid all closing costs, which is uncommon in our market. I often save my clients by recommending the DON’T move forw
ard with unnecessary repairs and updates.
So yes, aside from the stress that a Realtor can save you from in legalese and paperwork, a good Realtor can definitely save you money!
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out and contact me!
