Advice to sellers from a St. Louis REALTOR – part one of a series

By Dennis Norman, on August 11th, 2009

By: Dennis Norman

If you are a homeowner looking to sell your home today I don’t think I need to tell you it could be a challenge. In an effort to address some of the questions you may have about selling your home now as well as provide some useful tips and information

Now, lets find out what it takes to sell a home in this market:

Question – Once a homeowner has decided to sell their home, the first thing they are usually faced with is whether to try going it alone and doing it themselves (FSBO) or listing it with a real estate agent. Considering the profession you are in I’m going to assume your recommendation would be that sellers should list with an agent; why?

Answer-It’s a fact that roughly 80% of the buyers in today’s market are represented by REALTORS(R), then a seller should look to maximize this pool. The only way to do this is by listing with a REALTOR(R). The largest portion of buyers not represented by a REALTOR(R) are investors. By definition, an investor makes money by buying “right”: “right” being a below market deal. Additionally, it will be hard for a FSBO to catch a buyers eye given the number of sellers that have to sell and are discounting their prices to do so. Add the downward pressure of REO properties flooding the market and FSBO’s have a tough road.

Question-In our previous answer we referred to an agent as a REALTOR(R), which identifies an agent that is a member of The National Association of REALTORS(R). Why do we recommend that a seller list with a REALTOR(R) ?

Answer-Sellers should utilize the services of a professional REALTOR(R) so that their agent will have access to the MLS. Including the sellers home in the MLSexposes that listing to all REALTORS(R) thereby employing the efforts of the entire REALTOR(R) community to sell the home. “Why limit yourself to the sandbox, when you can have the whole park?” Additionally, REALTORS(R) are held to high standards of ethical business practices and professionalism.