Below are the top-10 reasons why it pays to use a REALTOR®. It’s a good time to relate this helpful reminder, as using REALTORS® clearly provided great results in September. It was a month to remember, as both sales and dollar volume reached record levels, including a quarter of a billion dollars worth of MLS® sales.
Buying and selling real estate is not a simple endeavour. In fact, it is a significant business transaction, requiring a team of talented and skilled people to ensure the process runs smoothly. As an important part of most real estate transactions, lawyers, financial advisors, mortgage specialists, home inspectors, property appraisers, interior decorators, movers and REALTORS® all play a role within their areas of expertise. And of all these professionals, REALTORS® assist clients through the entire real estate process with care, professionalism and competency. It is estimated that more than 132 large and small tasks must be managed to successfully close a real estate transaction. A committed and professional REALTOR® will make this complex process simple and painless.
The top-10 reasons to use a REALTOR®:
10. REALTORS® provide their clients with an expert evaluation on the value of any property they are seeking to sell or to purchase. How do you decide upon a fair value for a property you are selling or purchasing? Your REALTOR® will analyze comparable properties, and will help you determine a price reflecting the current real estate market.
9. REALTORS® provide professional advice on how to prepare your property so that it shows at its absolute best. REALTORS® know exactly how to present a home in its best light, and they advise clients on how to improve the appearance of their home to potential buyers. When viewing properties, REALTORS® provide a critical eye to flaws that may be more significant than clients realize.
8. REALTORS® use the Multiple Listing Service® to put a client’s property front and centre in the real estate market by giving it maximum exposure or to find a property that fits with what their client is seeking. Only REALTORS®, those real estate agents who are members of the WinnipegREALTORS® Association and the Canadian Real Estate Association, can list properties on the MLS® system, a member-to-member service with rules to ensure that the accuracy and integrity of the system is maintained. When listed on the MLS® system, the entire network of 98,000 Canadian REALTORS® can access your property details and bring it to the attention of their clients. Who wouldn’t want such a team working for them?
7. REALTORS® take care of all the nitty-gritty details involved in selling or purchasing a home. When you select a REALTOR® to help you sell your home, your REALTOR® will plan and manage open houses, they will show your home regularly to scores of potential buyers, and they will work evenings and weekends to ensure the right buyers are matched with the right sellers.
6. REALTORS® take care of advertising. REALTORS® not only list your property on the MLS® system, but they also advertise properties in the Winnipeg Real Estate News, the largest circulation estate publication in Manitoba with a successful online version containing the most-up-to-date listings. Only REALTORS® can advertise property in the WREN.
5. REALTORS® take care of yard signage. If your home is for sale but nobody knows it, how can it possibly be sold? REALTORS® provide attractive, recognizable yard signage to let people know that your valuable property is available for purchase.
4. REALTORS® assist clients in understanding all offers to purchase. REALTORS® are experts in all conditions of sale, and provide explanations and expertise regarding offers made for a property. As your REALTOR® works on your behalf, he or she will advise you on any conditions of sale that may be problematic, and take steps to negotiate any unacceptable elements.
3. REALTORS® know how to negotiate an acceptable sale price. Because homeownership is a substantial investment that can have emotional implications, both buyers and sellers usually have too much at stake to be good negotiators. While representing their clients, REALTORS® remain professionally detached and are able to negotiate satisfactory sale prices in real estate transactions.
2. REALTORS® know the pulse of the current market. REALTORS® are professionals who live, breathe and study real estate. They know the Winnipeg and regional marketplace through day-to-day exposure and are aware how its pulse is beating. They are professionals with intricate, expert knowledge that assists everyone who is interested in buying or selling a property.
1. REALTORS® put your mind at ease and let you relax through the real estate transaction. In today’s intense real estate market, isn’t it worth it to have a professional guide you through a complex business transaction with ease and security? You have a choice of more than 1,400 REALTORS® working in Winnipeg and the surrounding rural municipalities, and all are waiting to help you with the most important transaction you’ll ever make.
(With assistance from a top-10 list compiled by the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton.)