Let’s not kid ourselves, the real estate business has changed over the last several years. In the past 15 to 20 years the role of the Realtor has evolved from the primary source of finding a home to buy to assisting the buyer through the complex maze of paperwork, investigation and closing the sale. For sellers, Realtors have a much larger arsenal of tools to market property in today’s real estate atmosphere.
In the past, buyers first found a Realtor who would find potential properties using “the book” which was updated monthly. Currently, buyers are much more sophisticated and have a list of properties they want to see when they contact their Realtor.
Sellers can also find comparable sales figures and have a general idea of what their property is worth when they are ready to sell. But with all this information available, why is there still a need for a Realtor?
For most Americans, a home is the most expensive purchase they’ll make in their lifetime, it is important to have the proper representation. In the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 89 percent of buyers use a real estate agent and so did 88 percent of buyers. So why is it important to use a Realtor? They have a higher fiduciary responsibility to their clients.
“For more than 100 years, Realtors have subscribed to the NAR’s strict code of ethics as a condition of membership,” NAR President Gary Thomas said. “Realtors have the expertise and experience to help sellers protect their investment and help buyers build theirs.”
This means that you have an expert who is looking out for your best financial interests and if they violate that trust they can lose their Realtor designation.
Buying and selling a home is not as easy as buying a plane ticket because every home is different and laws change over time. For example homes that sell today have different disclosure and transaction requirements than they did just a few short years ago. Things do change between transactions. Realtor keep abreast of these changes in all the updates in regulations, laws, contracts and practices.
Looking online is a great way to start a home search, in fact, more than 90 percent of the people start their home search this way according to the NAR report, but when it’s time to buy, Realtors know the pros and cons of a property and can help with making the right decision. hey know real estate and can share information about a home that you wouldn’t otherwise know.
There are plenty of sites where you can view price estimates of you home before you list it for sale, but we have found that online estimates can be off by as much as 35 percent, and they often rely on tax records and data that can be as old as six to 12 months or they use general information about the neighborhood. Realtors know the local market and have access to the freshest sale data available. According to the NAR report, sellers made more money using a Realtor than those who didn’t.
Once buyers find the home, the real work begins. Today’s contracts and paperwork can often count more than 50 pages, not counting addendums. Realtor can help navigate through these complicated and complex documents and craft an attractive offer that makes sense for both the buyer and seller. Additionally, when it comes to negotiation, your Realtor is on your side and can put everything into context in a very complicated situation.
To find more information, contact your Realtor or call the Lake County Association of Realtor at 263-9300.
Ray Perry is the 2013 Realtor of the Year for Lake County and works for CPS Country Air Properties. He can be reached at 277-8000.
