A Fool For a Client

1. The old cliche about a Lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client is true in real estate too. This is one of your largest transactions and should be guided by a professional. If you had a $500,000 legal or tax issue would you handle that one by yourself? An experienced broker can handle your most valuable transaction.

2. Maintain future value by relying on your broker to help suggest repairs and cosmetic work that will impress future buyers and will increase the value of your home. Time to ditch the blue toilet.
3. REALTOR? Rel e ter? What’s the difference? The National Association of REALTORS 2006 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers states that the sellers who use a licensed agent and REALTOR (member of NAR) get an average of 16% higher for their home sale than those who don’t. Trust a professional to help you set and negotiate the best price for your home.
4. Your broker will professionally market and promote your property to other brokers and to the public. In Denver, Colorado nearly 90% of home transactions are co-op transactions between a buyer’s and seller’s broker. Get more for your money. Market to the brokers who walk clients through the door, and also market to the buyers. You should have both going for you.
What Now, Honey?
5. After you make the offer on your dream home, you’ll still need to have it inspected, appraised, and the title reviewed. Do you really want to find an inspector in the phone book? Do you really want to read the title commitment?
6. Sometimes talking to the other party directly causes a host of problems. Your REALTOR will communicate for you with all parties in the transaction: the seller or buyer, the appraiser, the lender, the title closer, the other broker, sometimes the attorney (in Colorado we typically do not use attorneys to transfer property). You do your job, getting ready to move.
7. Time is of the Essence. We have this clause in the Colorado contract. It basically means that all of the dates and deadlines in the date table must be met. Do you want to track the deadlines for inspections, appraisals or other contingencies? Your broker does it for you.
Skeletons in the Closet
8. Issues. There are always issues. 9 times out of 10 they are resolved by the brokers before the clients even need to know about them. Your REALTOR can help you work through any issues that come up during the process. The typical home sale today involves more than 20 steps after the initial contract is accepted. Why go it alone?
9. Negotiating. This should probably have been higher on the list, but I don’t feel like cutting and pasting. Congrats for reading so far! Your broker helps you negotiate throughout the process. There is the initial negotiation, then the counteroffer, maybe another counter. Later, you have the inspection negotiations – an entirely new set of negotiations.
10. Ugly paperwork. We have a joke that for every closing we kill a tree. It’s actually kind of sad, and not very green. There is a movement to get to paperless closings, but we’re not there yet. You’ll be daunted by the paperwork. Your broker is behind the scenes every day during the transaction managing the entire process.
11. Your bonus point – Someone should explain to you what you’re filling out, either an attorney or your broker. The paperwork (see above) is legally binding. You must be able to comprehend what it is you’re signing. Remember point 1? This is an expensive transaction. Don’t learn this point in court.
Search for your next Denver home at GretchenRosenberg.com.