The Role of Real Estate Agent in selling a property

Australia
January 14, 2007 8:36pm CST
Our family is now in process of buying a property and I am always wondering, why people don't sell their houses themselves and hire real estate agencies to do the job? Who knows the property better than it's owner? Am I missing something?
2 people like this
1 response
kesfylstra
@kesfylstra (1868)
• United States
15 Jan 07
It's not a matter of who knows the property, its who knows the business. Real estate is very tricky, and there are a lot of nuances that a professional will know best, and a lot of opportunitites for spreading word of your house that an agent has that you will not. Our agent told us when we were buying a house that people rarely make more money selling themselves, because it takes longer to sell it, and they don't know how to negotiate the best offer. Personally, I'd rather trust a professional. Hopefully the person you pick will be interested in your property, and make your house their priority.
Prowell
@Prowell (71)
• Australia
15 Jan 07
Thanks for your reply, kesfylstra, I do agree that agents know market better. But I saw different kinds of agents and not all of them are so competent. And I saw houses being on the market for more than four months and yet not being sold. Of course I also would prefer a real estate professional to deal with when selling a house, but sometimes it is difficult to be sure, if an agent is really so confident in what he is talking and doing. Anyway it is a good thing to do some research before and get statistics on the topic.