ARE REALTORS WORTH IT?

I recently read an article about a brokerage’s advertisement.  Admittedly, if they had looked at it from a viewer’s standpoint, they may have reconsidered the ad and its implications.  However, that isn’t what this post is about.  It is about the comments that followed.  Should I have been surprised?  Probably not…but I was.

Since the advertising brokerage is a unique discount business model, there was much discussion about the value of a REALTOR.  My surprise was the vehemence some wrote, expressing their opinion that REALTORS are overpaid, not worth it, useless…well, you get the idea.  When mulling over their thoughts, I began do feel my defenses rising.  However, we all know that does no good.  In looking at it objectively, maybe they truly don’t know what REALTORS do or what their clients are paying for.  That’s where I want to go here.

If clients watched what REALTORS do on a daily basis, maybe they would feel a REALTOR isn’t needed.  After all, all they do is talk on the phone or work on their laptop!  Agreed…we do a lot of that.  Gone are the days of physically driving an offer to a listing agent.  We don’t have to look at a book of new listings and call our buyers to tell them what is new.  With COVID, we don’t even get to host to hold open houses or meet to go over contracts.  If this is the case, what DO we do?

We keep abreast of the market.  We know what is happening in our neighborhoods that might affect the value of your home.  We see the new listings so we can accurately compare your home to the homes that have sold.  Was that home on the market before and if so, why did it not sell?  We know how to compare properties and adjust for features.  This comes from years of experience that our clients need.

We know what is happening in the industry.  Is it a seller’s market or a buyer’s market?  How are new propositions going to affect your move?  Can you take advantage of new laws such as Prop 19 in California? Have zoning laws changed?  Is there a new rental law that could affect your ability to sell your property?  Our knowledge of these could save you thousands of dollars.

We know what will help your property and what will not.  You can avoid spending thousands of dollars on an improvement that will not net you any more for your property…or you can spend thousands and get a return on your investment.  We can not only guide you through this process but we can arrange it for you.

REALTORs will work hard on your behalf and be your advocate.  Next time you are considering buying or selling, ask a REALTOR what they can do for you that you can’t do for yourself…you might be surprised!