Real estate agents are often thought of as professionals who create real estate listings and guide shoppers through homes. And these duties are a large part of their career. However, if you are selling your home, your real estate agent will do a lot more for you than you might realize. Here are some of the less-recognized things real estate agents do for you as a seller.

Set the right price.

Setting the right price for a home is a lot more complicated than you might think. You can't just look to see what the home is appraised at for tax purposes, or set the price based on the homes that most recently sold in your neighborhood. You need to take a multi-factorial approach while also considering how you can expect the home to sell. For example, you may set the price lower than what you want to earn to incite a bidding war in a busy market. Or you might price a home over its asking price in a slow market where most homes are selling for less than the asking price.

If you don't price a home correctly, you risk it sitting on the market for months. Real estate agents have specific algorithms and rules that they follow in pricing homes to help ensure they get it right, which ultimately helps you earn the maximum amount of money when you do sell.

Marketing to the right audience.

Marketing a home is tough. You want to create an ad that appeals to the type of owner you think may be most interested in the home. However, there are a lot of rules that apply to the housing industry. For example, you can't directly make statements like "this home is great for kids!" A real estate agent can create a listing that walks this fine line, appealing to the right buyers without breaking any laws.

Recommending the right repairs and upgrades.

Before listing your home, there may be some things you should upgrade or repair. There may be other things that are not worth upgrading or repairing. It can be tough to tell the difference, and it's easy to waste money making updates that won't ultimately earn you anything when you sell the home. Your real estate agent can walk through the home and recommend the best repairs and upgrades to earn you the most money possible on the sale. They'll base their recommendations on previous experience and on the features they know home buyers are looking for in your area.

A real estate agent can do a lot for anyone who is selling their home. Talk to your agent to learn more.

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