15 Reasons why you need a real estate agent

Technology has revolutionized the way we do things completely, at times i am scared by how much dependent i have become to technology,I get to do everything from my phone, from paying bills, to shopping to even having official Skype meetings, some of my friends say, if there is no food, to be shared then let the meeting be done online , i guess food is forever bae but the truth of the matter still remains is that  i would feel completely  paralyzed if my devices are stripped from me.

The beauty about the internet is that it presents an opportunity providing us with a massive source of information by a touch of a button right at our finger tips, so for quite sometime now, i have been saving to buy a new house, and like any sane, tech savvy person would do, the first place i went to was to reach out to my phone and did my tiny bit of research on the house listing that were on sale, contacted the numbers that were online, agreed on the intended day that i should view the houses, which was over the weekend, when i was off work, but when the day arrived, woke up super early to view some houses that i had expressed interested on , then it turned out that most of them were scams and lies and i was a bit disappointing when the owners were requested for me to make a down payment on a house that i haven’t yet seen, this is Nairober, i guess everyone is trying to earn something just that others are doing it in a dubious way, so later on in the day when my sugar level was really low and i was getting super frustrated, i called a friend of mine, who is very much conversant with the real estate industry and he connected me with an agent, within a week i had settled on a house that i wanted to purchase and moved in the following week .

So if you are like me and you hate working hard, do not get me wrong, working hard is good, but toiling really hard does not make sense especially when there are systems or people to help us, so here are reasons why you should consider using a professional real estate agent when you want to purchase, sell, or even looking for a property to rent out.

1. Its all about the money…

I would be lying if anyone said it isn’t, I have something that you want which is my money and you have something which i want which is the property that i want so badly to call home and yes, a part of me want to brag on social media hashtag youmadeit, which i do not  think that that should be a mark of you making it in life and there is the middle man, the real estate agent who also wants his commission after closing the sale, so either way you look at it, its all about the money, and money is not everything but it sure is up there with oxygen

When it comes to the sale of a property both buyers and sellers are in the opposite side of the fence, everyone wants to save a little bit of the much they have, what one is trying to achieve is dramatically opposite to  what the other wants to see happen, the buyer wants a pretty good deal from the house and the seller wants to milk out the buyer dry and yet they both share the ultimate goal which is they want a sale. both parties can benefit significantly from hiring a real estate agent to assist them in the sale process even though they could have different reasons why they want to hire an agent

2.Not Everyone Can Save Money.

If you are looking to buy a house then you shouldn’t have much problem using a real estate agent to help you look for a property, since the property seller will have to pay him a particular commission percentage of the sale of the property, if you are the owner of the property then looking at your benefits that the real estate agents brings you such as high quality prospects that are ready to buy the property, quickly then it shouldn’t be a big bother you getting to spend whatever agreed amount of money to appreciate the guy for a job well done, like the way the Swahili saying goes, mtaka yote, hukosa yote, plus the world is a much happier place when we all have a little joy to spread around, in this case, it money, spread out your money my friend, it makes everyone happy, trust me, at-least i am sure that it would make me extremely happier unless you want to struggle for a really long time before finally being able to sell your property on your own

3. Save yourself the hustle

The full time job of a real estate agent is to work as a liaison between the buyers and the sellers.

Unless you are willing to sell your house all by yourself, then you have to get ready to spend a huge sum of your time on the phone, solicit countless calls from interested parties and then answer their questions and make appointments on when they will be available to view the property, which to be honest at times it might be such a big hustle trying to get your schedules to match, and its also important to keep in mind that potential buyers are likely to move on if you tend to be busy and fail to respond quickly to their enquirers. To worsen things, there are days that you might cancel all your plans simply because you have prospect who were coming to view your property and the day ends with no one showing up or  even there are day you find yourself rushing home because someone had confirmed that they are going to see the property in the evening after work, and they simply dont show up cause of one reason or another

Considering the fact that its an agent full time job to deal with all this drama, its much much better to simply hire one and save yourself the who hustle

4. specialized knowledge

A real estate agent has specialized knowledge  when it comes to the real estate industry, so they probably know more than you do, when it comes to the buying and selling of properties. s/he has done it over and time again and knows all the in and out,When it comes to selling of a home it is not as easy as A B C, it requires that you familiarize yourself with a dozen of forms, reports, disclosures and other technical document. the truth of the matter is that it  will be impossible to learn everything about real estate before the selling or buying of your home so using an agent who is equipped with specialized knowledge that will prepare you for the best deal and avoid delays or costly mistakes

5 superior Negotiating skills

I hate negotiation process, it crawls all the way up in my skin and makes me feel super uncomfortable, even when buying simple things on the street i hate bargaining for things, iw ould rather give the asked amount and move on with my life, part of the reason why i prefer shopping online, i have a sister whose a lawyer by profession, i love going shopping with her, cause she will go on and on for hours till we get the item at a half reduced price, literally.

Unless your profession is a mediator, or an attorney or a politician or a real estate agent, then i take it that you ,might not be a negotiation giant, real estate agents are trained to negotiate well, they have been in the industry for quite some time now, and they know what works and what does not work, plus the beauty is that they are not emotionally vested into the deal, so this enables them to see things more clearer, unlike you, if you were a buyer, then this is probably 50 million that you are about to give away for the purchase of your dream home, that you might suddenly not want to simply because you do not like the tiles on the kitchen sink or probably if its the house seller, they just did not like the buyer for no apparent reason they just felt as if their spirit is not good, i know that something that my curchy friends would say, their spirit felt off, or there way just something about them that i can point my fingers to but i just know that i do not like them, the thing us that emotions tend to cloud our judgement so having a middle man who isn’t  so much vested would be a good thing to ensure that you get results for both parties

 Whereas there are people who might prefer working directly with the buyer and seller, especially if its a for sellers by owners type of deal, then people might prefer dealing directly with the buyers and sellers since they feel more transparency.

Its important to note that its the duty of a real estate agent to get you the best possible deal and price, regardless of what side you are on

6. Objective opinions and information

You can never know a new neighborhood more than s/he does, an agent knows all the in and the outs, the good the bad and everything that happens in between in a neighborhood. so whatever queries that might need in regards to security and how ‘fun’ the place is or how quite a re neighbors they will give you pretty good information on whatever it is that might need, also  they can show you other properties that you might reconsider and allow you to compare before you make a purchase.

On top of that an agent will provide you with the local information on utilities , schools, churches and any other public utilities that might matter to you as a new buyer, regarding the new neighborhood that you will be living in

7. Property marketing power.

Real estate agents, probably have a gold mine of information in their hands, you might think that you were able to sell your property due to the advertisement that you put in place, but that not the case, most of the the sales in real estate come from the referrals that they probably got from the previous clients they worked with, cause happy clients do recommend other clients.

So if you are  a property owner, you might want to consider using a real estate agent, they will definitely give you a smooth and easy time in finding buyers for your property

8. Price guidance.

Initially i used to think that real estate agents would set different prices for the buyers and sellers, they would inform the seller that the house is being sold at XXX amount of money then go to the buyer and tell them that the house is being sold at XXXX amount of money and then keep X amount of money and still go home with their commission, well from my research that i did, there are unscrupulous agents who normally do that.

That is why its more advisable to work with professional agents because they understand the market condition that dictate the price, so he would advice the house owner on the best price that they should list the property for putting all other factors into consideration

When a client is interested int he property, the agent with advice on the negotiation strategy, if that does not work, then the buyer will give the agent this budget and the agent will have to work with with the clients price range to ensure that hey give him the best price on the best products that is on the market, so the agent will show him other similar homes that are in the market, average sale prices or days on the market and together you will be able to make a decision.

9. representative skills.

A real estate agent is not just a middle ground person, his main job is to to represent the clients offer in the best way possible, that way they ensure that there is a deal, this particular skills plus the experience they have acquired over the years makes them completely irresistible, so if not for nay other thing you should hire one cause of this particular reason

10. Up-to-date experience.

You might have sold or helped a friend go through a sale or bought a new property a couple of times in your life, the truth of the matter is that the industry keeps on changing and since agents handle multiple transactions more than you have, they are more likely to be more alert with the laws and regulations regarding the industry and if they change they do adjust accordingly

11. Your rock during emotional moments.

i do not know about you, but i tend to get overwhelmed at times, especially when i have to make big decisions, probably cause i am a woman, and i have a to make a thousand and one other decisions ensuring that my families interest is best at heart, when it comes to the purchase of a new home, its more than just the roof and the four walls its not just another purchase that you can change like a cloth, well, actually you can if you are filthy rich but that not the case for most people, it one of the biggest purchases you will ever make. when you have unaddressed concerns regarding the new property a third party, who isn’t emotionally vested like you do, might help you stay focused on the issues that are important for you and most critical, you get the perfect home for your family.

12. Information filtering.

In this current advanced digital world where we are boomeranged with information right left and center, we probably know more than we are supposed to know, and the last thing that you need in the ever busy fuzzy life, is information that you do not need, honestly considering the number of jargon that are being used in the real estate industry you might end up being more confused and it might make the process of home purchase even more tougher for you… if you love to learn, then all the best have a blast.

if you are  a home seller a real estate agent filter out all the information and phone calls and present you with offers from serious potential buyers and this will present you with a good stepping stone from where to start the closing process

13. A guide towards other professionals.,

after the deal is done, that not the end of everything, you might still find and agent helpful , he might redirect you to other professional who have solutions or provide useful services, agents have worked with almost everyone in the industry through their span of life and they know the best of the best designers, so when you want to make changes to your home, they can redirect you to the best designers or even plumbers and fundis that they know who are also budget friendly

or they can also decide to give you background information on them and you get to decide the person whom you want o work with.

14. attention to Paperwork.

handling all the required paper work this is probably one of the worst and still most critical part when it comes to the selling or buying of a property, you  might not be in the right mental state when it finally comes to reviewing the paper work, especially after considering the kind of hustle you might have had to go through and all the houses you had to let go of simply because they werent within your budget.

When it comes to reviewing and understanding the multiple documents that ar erequired in closing a real estate deal, you are required to have a thorough understanding of what you are getting yourself into, regardless of whether you are buying or selling the beauty is that real estate agents handle aper work on a daily basis, so they would know every document that needs to be analysed closely and it would  help you to know what and where to look for something important, plus you would sleep better at night knowing that everything is set and right Consider this if you’re still thinking about saving money: Some mistakes or omissions in these documents can cost you as much as that commission you were trying to avoid paying

15. Questions and confusion solving.

Everything does not end after the signing of the paper work is completed, problems might arise afterwards, and it could be KRA or NTSA or just people coming to put an X on your land or even family members coming back to claim a share of their property, you never know, but confusions can arise from everywhere and if unnecessary question that can kill your enthusiasm on owning a new home and simply making a simple call to your agent van provide you with an instant  solution that will make you feel better once the confusion is solved

The Bottom Line

Henry Ford once said that it proves that you’re smarter than they are when you hire people who are smarter than you. The trick is to recognize when you need help and to find the right person.