Many people tend to think that by hiring a real estate agent, they are losing out on money that they could have saved if they sold their own home. This couldn’t be further from the truth. To often, people put their own houses up for sale and then wait until the right buyer comes along. But how long does that home stay on the market until THAT happens?

The general public is often mistaken about the role of a real estate agent. The agent doesn’t just earn a commission off a purchase or sell of a property, but instead, it is in the best interest of the real estate professional to do everything possible for their client. What this translates to, is the ability of the real estate agent to tap into sales and marketing channels that the average home owner or purchaser could not use.

People who buy or sell properties do not have access to the multi listing services, weekly advertisements in major news outlets (paper, television and radio), and an extended lead network that provides fresh referrals. Instead, a for sale by owner situation hopes for newspaper ads and word of mouth to sell their property.

What’s more persuasive and readily accessible to an immediate buyer?

In my opinion, for sale by owners are doing themselves a disservice by handling the transaction themselves. As I gave the aforementioned reasons, a person will be in a much better position to sell their home if they avail themselves all of the possible resources to do so. These resources are all at the touch of a willing and knowledgeable real estate agent.

So how does a fsbo find the right agent? They should ask their friends and coworkers on who they know that can handle a solid real estate transaction. Word of mouth carries a lot of weight in the real estate world so the fsbo should do their own due diligence and find out which agency and which particular agent to use. Female or male, it all goes to personal preference. Ask for the agent’s background to see how many sales last month they successfully brokered. Ask them what their plan of attack is to sell the property and what various angles they are going to take. And most of all, determine how much of a personality they have. Determination and personality go a long way!