Real estate is all about value. Whether buying or selling everyone in the market is seeking value. But when you think about it, in terms of a buyer and a vendor, ‘value’ will mean different things.
A buyer might see value as being the cheapest price for a property, whereas a vendor may think value is the highest offer. And then there is the inevitable, and equally important question, what is the value of a real estate agent?
It does make sense that in most cases value is directly linked to cost. But a more thorough approach to value will consider cost in relation to return. As I’m sure you have experienced, the cheapest isn’t always the best option. Equally the most expensive is not always guaranteed to deliver the best results.
And that’s where the value of a real estate agent becomes very clear.
When listing and marketing a property a professional real estate agent will have a number of important skills. The experience to know how best to present a property to maximise interest, the passion to create an innovative campaign, the energy to implement a complete campaign as well as insight into current market trends combined with historic knowledge of the area.
On top of that as a result of a track record of honest dialogue, good service and results a professional real estate will have built up a database of clients with an interest in local real estate and trust in the agent’s opinion.
All those attributes should be evaluated when considering an agent but in terms of value perhaps the point that best illustrates the key role played by a good agent emerges when you have a buyer and a vendor each seeking their own definition of value for the same property at the same time.
It’s that moment that a successful real estate agent will be able to demonstrate, educate and negotiate to bring both parties to a point where they can agree on the value and achieve a sale.
There is no set formula to deliver that result. Negotiations are driven as much by personality as they are by budget. Sometimes negotiations can involve hours of discussions and meetings to run through different financial scenarios. Other times the parties simply want time to consider the options so less communication is best. Every negotiation must be conducted with honesty and transparency but also a strict adherence to confidentiality laws.
Our team spends their days talking about real estate and value. As real estate agents our aim is to add value by helping vendors create value and helping buyers see value. So give us a call.