What is a Real Estate Agent?
Real estate agents are state licensed professionals that live and work in your community. These individuals are the spear-head for many people who are looking to buy or sell in a constantly changing market place.
Should I use a Real Estate Agent?
This question is easily answered by assessing your needs and goals. Do you have the time to sell your home? Do you know what your property is worth? Are you prepared to negotiate with picky buyers.
Pro's
Agents carry much of the liability that you would assume as a seller; these agents have usually familiarized themselves with our market and thus can work towards a quick stress-less sale. Agents have a fiduciary responsibility to put your interests before even that of themselves. Remember selling real estate is a full time job for some. The most important question is: "Are you willing to learn another career to save a small percentage(%) of your gains?"
Con's
Agents usually charge a commission which would come out of your proceeds at the time of closing (commissions are always negotiable).
Professionals involved in the process:
Real Estate Agents-
Agents facilitate the sale and work with all of these other individuals for you.
Mortgage Loan Officers-
Loan officers work to find available moneys for a buyer to borrow at a reasonable rate.
Real Estate Appraisers-
These professionals work to assess the values of properties when the need arises.
Real Estate Inspectors-
Primarily these professionals work for a buyer to assess the condition of a property.
Contractors-
When needed contractors can be used to do necessary repairs/modifications to a property.
Title Officers-
These people work to determine ownership interests in properties that are changing ownership.
Attorneys-
Attorneys are masters of the law that generally are involved in many parts of the real estate process.
Buyers & The Market
As is the case anywhere the market always sets the rules for the real estate game. El Paso is no different in this regard. El Paso is different in the fact that we are still in a real estate boom when compared with the rest of our nation.
This means that there are still plenty of buyers looking for your home. This does not mean that it will sell fast no matter what. What it does mean is that it can still sell quickly but you will have to market your home aggressively. “That doesn’t make sense, right?” in a sellers market there should be plenty of good buyers buying up everything. “Wrong” we are still enjoying a sellers market for real estate, however the loan market has crashed and lenders have become very strict with there criteria for making loans.
With all of these factors El Paso has become one of the most interesting markets for selling real estate in our nation. Many people think we sank into a buyers market because there home did not sell a week after placing a sign there yard. These folks just don’t know all of the facts, call the market what you want Buyers/Sellers or whatever but the fact is people are still buying real estate and yours can still sell you just need to reach out to your target market. Reaching your target market is not that hard to do and there are plenty of ways to do it, if you would like for one of our members to council you on marketing your property just fill in the info block on our home page.
Steps to $old
1. The Decision-This is where you decide to sell or not sell.
2. The Strategy-This is the most involved you will have to be if you are using an agent. This is where you will tell your agent what you want for your property, discuss potential terms for the sale, figure out the best target demographic, and how best to reach out to that market.
3. The Offer-“EXCITING” At this point you know the marketing is at least somewhat effective. Someone is showing an interest in your house, now is the time to negotiate terms and obtain a legal & binding contract.
4. The Inspector-This may or may not happen but if it does be aware these experts will check many aspects of the property. They are working for the buyer and against you, so you may enter into more discussion / negotiation on the deal depending on what this professional finds.
5. The Appraiser-The appraisers generally are employed by buyers and banks. Both buyers and banks will have problems completing the deal if the property does not appraise. So to prevent any major setbacks we recommend that you get a good assessment of value prior to this point.
6. Mortgage Brokers-This professional is working to find a loan for your buyer and can greatly affect the transaction either positively or negatively and has a responsibility only to the buyer, so he may not be willing to work with you or even give you any information.
7. Title Officers-“Finally” These professionals will check all of your property records, escrow all moneys that will change hands, provide detailed information on where all monies are going and pay off all liens.
These are our recommended steps.
