Consumer Corner

Presented by the Fayette County Board of REALTORS

President, Patti Harris Ayers

Tired of working alone to sell your home? Become a team with a REALTOR. This idea of teamwork is the concept of "hiring" a professional to help in the selling of your home. Even conceding that the For Sale By Owner route is doable, the hidden costs tolerable and the sellers willing, serious problems could be faced along the way. Creating this knowledgeable team who can help ease the burden of some of these problems is the daily goal of your Realtor.

"You are our top priority"- That is how you should feel when dealing with your Realtor. Helping others realize their dreams is the work of a team. "No man is an island" and no home should be on that island! Your Realtor is the basis of this county's "island".

One of the more daunting of reasons not to choose to sell your home yourself is the stiff competition from full-time professionals for the attention of the best prospects available for the current market. Those sellers who claim to have "saved" a commission most likely did so by accepting something less than that best price obtainable by testing a much smaller market, with inferior expertise. Remember - the devil is in the details and Realtors are trained to address and handle these "devils" along with avoiding any potential pitfalls before the closing.

In today's marketplace the goal to provide quality customer service is making a comeback. Buyers are becoming more knowledgeable as to how their Buyer representative can protect them in any transaction. CNN reported in a recent program that, "Buying a house is a big deal and buyers want to be surrounded by not only the people they trust, but by professionals who know what they're doing. The Realtor, we contend, is the offensive support for the average buyer. They are the key."

Competition, economic uncertainty, and shifting business dynamics have put the pressure back on the salespeople to go the extra mile to close the sale. For new home builders that may mean extra attention to details, offering high end options, and soliciting customer feedback to continue to improve the product and sales experience. For REALTORS, it can mean focusing in on niche markets to showcase an area of expertise, providing staging tips, sharing financial know-how, and offering value added commodities like community data and lists of qualified home repair professionals. The goal of the sale should not just be to seal the deal, but to create a lifelong customer. Don’t be afraid to ask what a REALTOR is willing to do to team up with you to help achieve your American Dream.

The Fayette County Board of REALTORS is one of nearly 1600 local boards and associations of Realtors nationwide that comprise the National Association of Realtors. As the nation's largest trade association, NAR is "The Voice for Real Estate," representing more than 1,300,000 members involved in all aspects of the real estate industry.

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