In a world where the Internet makes marketing miracles possible and home data seems to flow free, every once in a while you’ll hear of someone attempting to buy or sell without an agent.
While some stories speak of success, they also reveal the time, expertise, and energy that go into a sale and the indisputable benefits of having an agent.
Here are four ways a recent story of an Australian owner taking charge of his property marketing showed that marketing and managing a home is a time-consuming undertaking and why now, more than ever, smart consumers need to use a real estate agent. The story was that, thanks to social media, a homeowner sold his Californian bungalow for $A1.05 million, $135,000 above the asking price.
1) Online marketing takes time and expertise
According to various Down Under news sites, the owner set up a website, blog, Twitter feed, YouTube videos, and a Picasa photo page for the home.
This story illustrates two things – both that online marketing works, and that it takes hours of effort. This home sold above its asking price as a result of the interest generated by a professional’s online marketing efforts — Opray is a professional online marketer who spent many hours every day promoting his home through these multiple channels. Most sellers don’t have this level of expertise or the time to spend on the effort.
Agent tip: Show sellers a detailed marketing plan for their home and keep them up to date on what’s happening with their property. Tools like Trulia’s Client Listing Reports can be a big help.
2) A home’s information alone is not enough – every home lives in a market
Opray was quoted in the National Business Review, “I know my house better than any agent. Who better to sell the house than me?”
This comment is typical of someone who doesn’t realize that knowing about a home is just the first step. The real key to moving a listing is knowing how that home fits into the market – and only a professional brings that kind of focus and real experience.
Agent tip: Show prospective clients a local market overview that demonstrates the deep expertise and knowledge you bring to the table. Trulia’s Local Pages can help you show data clearly.
3) Showings and connections sell homes
From TheMoveChannel.Com: “Opray aimed to bring as many buyers to the home’s blog as possible, giving them a personal insight into the house.””
To sell his property, Opray had to develop a following and create connections online. This is easy for agents, who are already tapped into a network of people buying and selling.
Agent tip: Your connections in your local and agent community matter to sellers. Your knowledge of local listings and buyers will remind them that they’ll benefit by working with you.
4) Even the smartest use an agent for expertise
Even with all of Opray’s social media efforts to help sell his home on his own, in the end he hired an agent.
Agent tip: Despite all the online resources available to home sellers today, they still need agents. Use these points in your listing presentations to demonstrate that the selling process, and the results, are more effective with an agent.
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Legacy Comments
Jovan, great points
In a market where a consumer is most often negotiating with a bank (who has done this thousands of times) they need someone in their corner when the buyer’s best interest conflict with the seller’s (and it’s going to happen!)
Good points, Jovan. Using a good Realtor is crucial to buying or selling a home in this market. As an industry, we’ve gone from virtually no information for buyers/sellers to an overload of data for consumers to sort through. I completely agree that a Realtor can add real value by curating all that information and making sense of it for his clients. While I feel like most sellers realize it is important to have an agent, many buyers feel like they can do it alone. It’s a reason why one of the best ebooks we use to educate prospects is “15 Reasons Why You’re Taking Crazy Pills if You Don’t Use a Buyer’s Agent”
Why wasn’t the listing agent he was working with using Twitter and blogging himself? The article makes the real estate agent sound reactionary and old-school.
Thanks for the comment David. That’s why we wanted to highlight the story here and set the record straight.
Twitter and blogging only go a little ways. They are passive activities. Realtors need to communicate directly to establish a relationship and communicate one on one.
When discussing real estate relationships please clearly define that a buyer is not hiring the agent unless they sign an agreement to have the agent represent them. Otherwise the are just helping them/working with them, not representing them. When an agent lists a property they are always representing the seller, not the buyer. thanks
Rick John, former real estate broker for over 30 years in VT & NH and real estate instructor.
Thanks for the clarification Rick.
TOTALLY agree – I’ve challenged many who think they can do this on their own to simply follow me for a week … IF they can keep up. The market is so full of potential landmines, you really need someone with “mine detectors and bomb sniffing dogs” to keep your transaction from blowing up … in other words, a top-notch professional who’s been down the road a few times before and who knows how to get it done.
There is SO much more to this business than meets the eye … and I confess I get a bit peeved when I run into “amateurs” who think I got my license in a box of Crackerjacks and that they can do what we do.
Follow me for a week …
Buyers, on the other hand, do NOT need an agent (salesperson) nagging and pressuring them. Buyers know what they want and adding another salesperson to the mix only costs money and mucks up the communication process.
Couldn’t be more wrong. Buyers have FREE representation! It costs the Buyers NOTHING. The sellers are still paying the agreed upon commission amount. If there is a buyers agent then the List Agent splits the amount with the Buyer Agent.
Ignorance is bliss.
Buyers Agents also save you time and money in negotiating, finding great lawyers, home inspectors, lenders, etc.
It still amazes me how much people think they know about the Real Estate world and what is all involved in the transaction. smh
Opray sold his house for $135,000 more than asking price because it was underpriced by $135,000, not because of online marketing.
Interesting question Cathy. We should examine the valuation side of things as well.
As an agent working 70 hours a week, it is important that buyers/sellers use an agent as it is the most expensive investment/purchase most people make and we are the glue and knowledge that makes the difference. A great agent is a must and our wealth of knowledge will make your home buying and selling experience a great one.
It is interesting to note that the seller, who decided to take control in marketing his own home, is described in the back story as…..” a social media expert at a marketing company called Impact Data.”
One might observe that not all home owners / sellers are….” social media experts ” and / or marketing experts.
That being said, there is an important lesson here to be learned by realtors….we must become more proficient in social media marketing and continue to upgrade the skills and services we offer our clients.
Great point Robert. That’s part of the reason we do the training and education through our posts and webinars. The tools of marketing are changing every day.
We are a team of three and we’ve been in the business for 8 years. It requires all of us to actively promote and sell a home; a homeowner trying to sell on his own is at a complete disadvantage.
This article didn’t seem that informative? Most agents are using all of this information already. I didn’t see any new information in the article I can use with potential clients. I didn’t see the explaination of why this home owner sold above asking price or how he finally chose his agent? What did his agent do with the activity generated by the owner’s marketing. How did the agent overcome the fact that the owner already did a ton of marketing etc…?
Sorry that the post was let down Deb. While our point wasn’t to retell the whole story, You bring up some great points. You’ve given us ideas for a few future posts on this.
I have a home listed that my client purchased a little over a year ago without the help of an agent. He paid $125,000 for the home. It is in a less than desirable neighborhood across from a convenience store. Needless to say the buyer saw him coming. The home is currently listed at $79,900 and no one is looking. Had he just asked an agent for some help, say a free CMA, he would have saved himself a good deal of money.
I actually blogged about this last week–here are some additional reasons to use a Realtor. http://www.beckettdebianchi.com/blog/2012/02/realtors-who-needs-em/
Thanks for the share Samantha.
First of all, people just don’t get how rare it is that the listing agent actually sells the house. Someone trying to sell their own home is not only stupid, it is dangerous! A home owner has no clue if the person coming through their door is legit or someone there to rip them off for valuables and jewelry. Almost all sales are done through a “Buyer’s Agent” who has already pre-qualified the buyer and is not taking a buyer to a home to waste anyone’s time. When I represent a seller, I focus on marketing to other agents, as each agent has a handful of qualified buyers. The internet is a great tool for buyers and sellers, but it is only a starting point. Considering how many hours agents spend going over new forms, and new laws that seem to change on a daily basis, there is just no way a private party can have that knowledge, which totally opens them up for lawsuits down the road. We are not talking about selling some old used item on E-Bay here, we are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars, and almost always that person’s biggest investment in their lifetime. Why in the world would someone take the change of losing it all to save a few buck by not using a professional who knows the laws?