What Are the Roles of the Seller and the Realtor?
Are you getting prepared to sell your house and you’re wondering how much work or what you need to do and when to reach out to a Realtor or wondering what is the Realtor’s job and what is your job? In this short video, I will provide a quick outline of what a listing agent will do to help you sell your home so that you don’t waste any of your time doing projects or research you don’t need to.
There is a lot to do when you are thinking about getting your home on the market so naturally you may want to start doing all the projects that you think you need to do. Well There may be some work that is unnecessary before getting your home on the market and speaking with a Realtor first could save you some time. First of all, when you reach out to a Realtor to begin the conversation about what you need to do to your home they are going to want to come and see your home to properly evaluate your home compared to the market. Tip #1, you do NOT need to have all your projects done at that point and have the house clean. We can see past that! It’s our job to tell you how much of it needs to be done and what you can leave.
Once a walkthrough is done in your home a Realtor will provide you with a list of projects to do prior to getting your home on the market. One thing that will always be on this list is to do a thorough clean of your home! If there is work that needs to be done and it’s not something you are able to do yourself a Realtor will be able to provide you with a resource for that work. We have contacts for vendors that we work with and often have a lot of experience with so you don’t have to spend a bunch of your time looking for trusted resources.
After looking at your home and giving you your pre-listing to do list your agent will do what’s called a Market analysis for you. This is when an agent compares your home to other homes in the neighborhood to determine the correct listing price of your property. There are a variety of factors that a Realtor factors when determining the price of your home during this analysis process.
Once you have completed the tasks your Realtor has given you and you determine a listing price together it’s time for your agent to begin the marketing process for your home. This is when they bring in their photographers &/or videographers to take photos and videos of your home. All of this content is then turned into marketing material to make sure all the home buyers out there see your home! Your home is put into MLS - the multiple listing service and goes onto all major Real Estate websites. Each agent has their own marketing strategy of how they present your property and what they do to market your property so be sure to ask you agent about this. There is a BIG difference between listing a home and marketing a home.
All this marketing of your home will lead to buyers wanting to see you home and scheduling showings. Your agent will manage the showings and communicate with you about when these are happening, feedback from the showings, queistons that buyers have and of course offers!~
Once you receive offers on your house your Realtor will help you to decipher the difference between offers if you receive multiple offers. They will also help advise you on the offers to determine the pros and cons of the offer and they will help to vet the buyers to provide you with all the information you need to determine if it’s the right offer to accept.
When you go under contract on your property with a buyer your listing agent will help you throughout the transaction. They will communicate updates with you about how the buyers lending process and inspection process is going as well as do any negotiations on your behalf.
Again as you near closing you will likely need resources to help with your move and your agent will be able to provide you with finding trusted vendors to assist with your move or any other needs you may have.
Selling a home and moving is a process and working with a trusted professional can help make the entire process go smoothly and be less stressful. A realtor can provide you with a network of people to help you and they will get your home marketed and not just listed to be sure it is seen by as many home buyers as possible.
Have you considered buying a second home as a vacation home and wondered if there is a way to make that happen for yourself and your family? If you’re curious about owning a vacation home and how to own one that pays for itself then be sure to check out my next series where I share how you could own a vacation home that could essentially pay for itself.
Have more questions about the real estate market. Please feel free to Reach out with any questions and follow along for more tips.