Top of the Class

August 22, 2011

Everyone knows that selling real estate is like shelling peas. Right? Brokers and agents have it easy. They just put on the internet – and the property is as good as gone at its ambitious asking price. Right?

Wrong!

What about selling real estate at a time when not so many are interested in buying? When buyers are strapped for cash; when the banks aren’t lending so much or so easily; when the country is facing a harsh austerity period and at a time of tenacious financial uncertainty. What about selling real estate when a seller may be demanding more than the market will stand? What about selling real estate when people have more pressing things to think about? And how about selling real estate for someone whose personal circumstances – joyous, sad or desperate – crucially depend on an agent’s efforts, despite all the above negative market conditions.

Then selling real estate is not quite so easy as many might suggest.

But, cometh the moment cometh the agent. Of course when the market is in overdrive it is easier to sell homes. But now, in many areas, matters are more serious. Selling property in this market needs an agent with experience, with heart and foresight and skill and purpose. One with a steady hand who understands that moving home is often played out over two legs. There’s the home leg, selling, and the away leg, buying. This is a time to play the long game and to see and understand the bigger picture – and to be able to communicate this to anxious clients. There comes a time when selling property has to be put into the hands of someone who is seriously good at what they do. This is the time for hiring the top of the class.

If you want the agent who – even against your own optimistic judgment – has priced your home way higher than every one else, do go ahead if that makes you feel good. But what will really make you feel good is selling your home and moving on to another. And for that, right now, you need a professional.

Red Adair, the famous oil well fire fighter said it perfectly, “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur!”

Source: Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty.