Should You Hire a Realtor to Help You Sell?

By Joe Kipping

Top Realtor Joseph Kipping’s more than 18 years of professional experience in the real estate, banking, and mortgage industries makes him uniquely knowledgeable in all facets of buying and selling properties. His experience in the mortgage industry working with Lendingtree.com clients served as the foundation for his true passion – serving his clients and community as a full-time Realtor. This dedication to his Tampa Bay clients has enabled Joe to sell more than 1,200+ homes in the Tampa Bay area since 2008. Referrals from past clients and repeat business have driven much of Joe’s success because his clients know that they will never see high-pressure sales tactics, marketing gimmicks or any unprofessional practices.

We speak to a lot of home sellers in the Tampa Bay area, and fairly often we hear from those who think they might be able to sell their home on their own instead of with a Realtor. 

These sellers wonder why they should work with a Realtor when they could just do it on their own. Well, being Realtors, we have to go through the proper training where we learn how to navigate the legalities of real estate transactions, as well as how to fill out the paperwork and contracts. If you don’t know what a far bar or a standard contract is, then you shouldn’t be selling your home on your own. You could always try to Google what you don’t know, but you won’t have access to all the training that agents do.

Another thing that For Sale By Owner (FSBO) sellers have to worry about is handling showings. Some people say that their spouse can simply handle all the showings while they’re at work, but I would never want my wife at home showing the house to someone I don’t know. As agents, we have safety precautions in place so that we know exactly who is going into every single one of the houses we list for sale.

There are also the many moving parts of selling a home to navigate, which include title companies, inspections, appraisals, and negotiating repairs. If something goes wrong in one of these areas, the buyer may pull out of the deal. An agent’s job isn’t just to help you get your home under contract, but also to act as the glue that holds a transaction together and gets you to closing. A good Realtor works with trustworthy preferred vendors because they work in deals like these all the time.

Granted, some sellers have had bad experiences with Realtors in the past, which is why they might want to skip hiring one this time around. In the real estate industry, you have to find agents who will provide you with top-level service. Individual agents have many hats to wear, so it’s best to work with a whole team that has different departments to handle each part of the process for you. 

Yet another concern that sellers have with Realtors is paying them a commission. To that, I’d first say a good Realtor will earn their money, which is why we recommend that you interview a few options before hiring to find out what services they provide, what their team is like, and what their track record of success is. If you work with us, we’ll go over our exact process with you before we begin so you know what to expect. You can look at our reviews to see what others have said about their experiences with us and you can see every product we have on the market.

If you’re looking to sell your property, we encourage you to give us a call to find out what we’re made of and how we can help you find success in today’s market. Hope to hear from you soon!