So you’ve decided to sell your house, but how should you sell it? Two of the most common options are working with an investor or working with a Alameda County agent to sell your house. Both ways have distinct benefits depending on your unique selling situation. One of them, though, comes out on top for most sellers most of the time – working with an agent. So let’s take a look at 6 ways working with a Alameda County agent is better than working with an investor to sell your house.
Drawbacks of Working with an Investor
First, let’s look at a couple of the disadvantages and pitfalls of working with an investor . . .
1. DIFFICULT TO SELL AT MARKET VALUE
Investors are typically looking for a great deal that will allow them to make a profit on the house. As a result, working with an investor to sell your Alameda County house often means selling for less.
“Most investors,” industry insiders say, “are looking to buy homes at below market value. Or at least at a bargain. And because they don’t have to tell you what they’ve planned for your home – like tearing it down to build lucrative apartments – you might not know its true market value.”
2. RISK OF SCAMS
Working with an investor (and without the assistance of an agent) can also make you more vulnerable to scams. This is especially the case with out-of-country investors.
Here’s a common scam scenario involving an “investor” who “posing as a foreign or out-of-town buyer.” This putative investor then contacts the seller with an urgent plea to close right away. “The investor never wants to see the house; they just want to purchase it. The investor will then give a false cashier’s check or have an unsophisticated or unrepresented seller sign a purchase agreement for unfavorable terms, and before the seller knows it, he or she has been swindled out of money.”
Advantages of Working With a Alameda County Agent
There are definite advantages to working with a Alameda County agent over working with an investor to sell your house . . .
1. PRICING KNOWLEDGE
Pricing correctly and for a sale is often said to be one of your most effective marketing tools. And it is – but it’s not that easy to get right. A good agent, though, has the knowledge of pricing in local markets, as well as plenty of experience, to help you price correctly.
And here’s why. Your agent will “obsessively track the market and make note of any ups or downs that could affect your home’s value. As a result, they can make sure that your home is listed for an accurate amount that draws interest but still helps you sell for a strong price.”
Very often sellers who try to price their houses themselves either wind overpricing or underpricing. To find out more about how an agent can help you with pricing, call (408) 893-1866 .
2. NEGOTIATING EXPERTISE
After pricing and marketing, negotiating is probably the most important thing an agent does for sellers. An agent’s negotiating expertise, which will help you get the best deal possible, makes the fee a bargain.
A good agent will always be looking out for your best interests. As a professional negotiator, she will “simultaneously fight for your interests and keep the deal from falling apart due to hurt feelings.” Again, to discover more about this, just call (408) 893-1866 .
3. HELP WITH LEGALITIES AND PAPERWORK
Working with an agent instead of working with an investor also means that you’ll have help with all the legal subtleties and the mountain of paperwork involved in a real estate transaction. In fact, hiring an agent could keep you out of legal hot water.
A real estate transaction is fraught with strict and rigorous regulations and guidelines and disclosure requirements. You can either learn all these things yourself or hire an agent to take care of them for you. If you don’t want to have to become a real estate expert, an agent is your best bet.
In addition, “selling a home comes with paperwork,. There’s no avoiding it, but working with [an agent] can reduce and organize the documents you’ll need to generate and execute. Your [agent] will likely draft the sales agreement for you and work with a title company or attorney to prepare the closing documents when the transaction concludes.” And this can save an enormous amount of time and expense.
4. ACCESS TO OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS
And selling a house demands the services of various other professionals and service providers. If you were working with an investor, you’d most likely have to locate and engage all these people on your own. But your agent will have a stable of people she uses regularly to make the whole thing much smoother. Your Alameda County will have a list of preferred providers – mortgage professionals, inspectors, contractors, stagers, and so on – she has worked with in the past and whom you can trust as part of your needed team.