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Do I need a Realtor® to sell my home in the Current PEI Real Estate Market?

In this hot PEI real estate market, do you still need the services of a realtor? We discuss the pros and cons of using a realtor.

You may be wondering given the extremely hot PEI real estate market if you still need to incure the expense of a Realtor® to help you in the sale of your house. Certainly homes are selling very fast on the island, especially in the under $300,000 category, you probably could sell your own property. However there are caveats to this and you should be aware of a number of potential pitfalls.

REALTORS HAVE THE TOOLS TO DETERMINE THE BEST STARTING PRICE FOR ANY PEI REAL ESTATE LISTING

Realtors have access to a vast array of tools and historical data regarding your home and what it has sold for in the past as well as current sale prices of similar homes that have sold recently. Your agent will do what is called a Comparative Market Analysis or CMA. This means they will search through recent and historical sales records of homes that are similar in size, location and features to your home and determine a suitable sales price.

While any home, at any time, is worth only what the market says it is worth, this data provides a very useful starting point. Realtors will also take into consideration such industry insider ploys as pricing your home to look like an especially good deal to encourage more buyer interest. This usually results in a bidding war, frequently resulting in the final sale price being higher than if the home had been priced at its maximum to start with..

REALTORS ALLOW FOR ARMS LENGTH DEALINGS WITH BUYERS THAT CAN MAKE HARD-BALL NEGOTIATIONS EASIER

If you choose to try and sell your home by yourself, such process known as “for sale by owner” or FSBO, you are putting yourself in the situation of not only being the vendor but also performing all the functions of a real estate agent. Unless you have worked in real estate you will not be as well equipped to carry out these functions as if you had the professional help of a Realtor.

You will have to show your own home to prospective buyers and should they be interested then switch hats and negotiate price and terms with them. You may during the initial period have come to develop a friendly relationship with your purchasers and then it will be more difficult to “hard ball” during pricing discussions. It is considerably easier to turn down an offer when presented by a Realtor and when you have not met those making the offer than it is when you already know them and are dealing with their offer face to face.

REALTORS ENSURE THAT YOUR HOME IS MARKETED TO THE MAXIMUM AUDIENCE THROUGH THE PEI REAL ESTATE MLS SYSTEM

While you only need one buyer, multiple interested parties lead to price wars and a higher final sales price. You can only sell your home once and as it is your largest investment you want to realize the largest capital return. You simply can not expose your home to as large an audience as your agent can through MLS and multiple other sales channels.

REALTORS ASSUME MORE LEGAL LIABILITY DURING A PEI REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION

Let’s assume you go the for sale by owner route. You find a buyer. Now you are on your own to take the deal from a hand-shake to a successfully closed deal. Realtors are part of a highly regulated industry that has tried and true ways of closing real estate deals. Your PEI real estate agent will follow the prescribed methods which will eliminate 99% of possible problems. Just the fact that the purchaser is being directed by a PEI real estate agent in of itself tends to keep deals on track.

However should something go wrong, firstly you can count on the organization of the real estate industry and your area real estate board to help find answers, but should your agent have made a mistake you can rest assured that all licensed Realtors are covered by Errors & Omissions insurance and that you will be taken care of.

Really using an agent for your purchase or sale is simply a way of not having to worry or direct a process that you may be unfamiliar with and also knowing that you have peice of mind should anything serious go wrong.

REALTORS ARE PAID BASED ON RESULTS

Finally it is important to realize that PEI real estate agents, like all Realtors are paid commission based on the value of the sale. It is in their best interest to do everything possible to ensure you get a higher price for your property.

IN CONCLUSION

Higher price (in many cases), protection from legal issues, as well as piece of mind that your interests are being well represented all are benefits of using the services of a Realtor when selling the largest financial investment of your life, your home.

Nicolle Morrison- Century21 Northumberland - PEI Realtor

NICOLLE MORRISON

I am Nicolle Morrison, co-owner and broker at Century21 Northumberland Realty and leader of “the Power Team”, a group of realtors dedicated to both local and international clients. You can contact me at 902-888-7237 or nicolle@century21pei.com

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