There will come a time in your life where you will need to sell or buy a home. When you do, you will likely reach out to a real estate broker or agent. In fact, according to Usaj Realty, having an experienced expert on your side with a proven process can be a huge help.
While having a broker and/or agent on your side can be a tremendous weight off your shoulders, you should be aware that they won’t likely tell you all of their industry secrets. They are there to help you, but also have some things they are keeping close to the chest.
Secrets no real estate broker will tell you
With that in mind, this blog post is going to go over four secrets no real estate broker will tell you.
Their commission is negotiable
When a real estate transaction is made, the agents and brokers are paid a commission. On average, this commission is around 5 or 6% of the total price of the home. However, it is important to know that this number isn’t set in stone. The rate is negotiable and depends on what the buyer and seller are comfortable with. There are no rules that it has to be the average amount.
While many agents are certainly worth 5 or 6% (or more), others may not be. Of course, if you plan to bargain on the commission, do it upfront and don’t leave it until the last minute. You don’t want to waste anyone’s time.
They want to get paid quickly
While agents will often be perfectly happy helping buyers and sellers for months and months find a home (or sell theirs), there is no doubt that they favor the quick money. Most agents, even though they won’t tell you this, will favor the volume of sales over the price.
If they can sell ten homes for $250,000 each, that is often better than five homes for $500,000 each. Any deal can fall through, so you’d rather have more deals being done quickly, than waiting for a big one that could fail just like any other. Sure, fewer sales mean less paperwork, but it also means there is less of a safety net if one or more of the deals fall through.
An agent certainly wants to get you a fair price for their home, but they would likely rather have you take the first fair offer that comes through, as opposed to you waiting months for someone to give you a perfect offer.
That you don’t need to use them
Having an agent or broker certainly helps you in the home selling or buying process, but not everyone will need to use them. If you have sold or bought many homes, or have a friend or family member that has, you may be able to do things without an agent.
Selling FSBO (For Sale by Owner) is all about saving the commission and handling everything yourself. It can be a lot of work but can be worth it if you’re experienced or have someone in your life with the expertise to help you out.
Also, the internet has a variety of helpful tools and apps that can help anyone become well-versed in the area of real estate. You can learn more about houses through in-depth listings, and learn about trends in different cities and neighborhoods.
They’re not that knowledgeable on every area of the city
In many cases, agents will be most comfortable in a certain area of a city. They may know a little about certain areas but not as much as they do about others. Of course, they will never tell you this, as they want your business.
Being as you want an expert in the area you are looking for, you may need to dig deep to find one. Be sure that they are knowledgeable about where you want to buy, and know the trends of the area well. You have to do your best to find agents who have sold or helped others buy homes in the areas you are looking for.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we hope that this article has helped you understand a little more about some of the secrets that real estate brokers probably won’t tell you.
