— We take our content seriously. This article was written by a real person at BREL.
Think you know what your real estate agent does? Here are 50+ ways your agent can help when you’re selling your home:
- Help you identify your selling goals and expectations
- Recommend ideal timing to list your home, balancing what’s best for you with what’s happening in the market (Related: When’s the best time to list your home for sale?)
- Provide a market valuation and prepare a comparable market analysis (CMA)
- Provide guidance and advice on how best to prepare your home for sale (Related: 30 Days to Preparing Your House for Sale)
- Connect you with cleaning companies and tradespeople to assist in home preparation
- Coordinate staging consultations and professional stagers to optimize the look and feel of your home (internally or externally). Some agents (like us) actually coordinate and PAY for staging!
- Procure furniture and accessories and manage any internal staging inventories
- Guide you on ways to optimally showcase the outside of your home and yard
- Provide pricing strategy options and recommendations
- Help educate you through every step of the process
- Ensure you understand what you need to disclose to potential Buyers (Related: All About Disclosures)
- Mediate the (sometimes) complicated relationships between spouses and others involved in the selling process
- Install a lockbox and make an extra key so other agents can easily show your home
- Help you manage the stress and emotions that are part of selling a home
- Identify the highlights of your home that will matter to your target Buyers
- Write engaging copy to make your home appeal to the right Buyers
- Coordinate photographers, videographers and floor plan people
- Post your home on the MLS
- Advertise your home online
- Market your home on social media
- Share your home via email to potential buyers and their agents
- Promote your home to other agents
- Educate potential Buyers about your neighbourhood
- Install (or coordinate to install) ‘For Sale’ signage
- Prepare in-home marketing, from feature sheets to neighbourhood infographics to signage
- Protect your legal interests at all times
- Provide guidance about the best ways and times for you to show your home to potential Buyers and their agents
- Anticipate problems that may occur with the legal title of your home (mistakes in your home’s registration, easements, etc.)
- Order condo status certificates and provide them to interested buyers (Related: Understanding the Status Certificate)
- Obsessively update the MLS to see new listings that might affect your sale
- Help navigate the speed bumps that can occur when selling a home
- Provide current market intelligence, beyond the monthly statistics. What’s really happening out there?
- Coordinate and schedule showings for Sellers
- Gather feedback from agents who’ve shown your home
- Host open houses (in-person or virtual)
- Respond to unrepresented Buyers and answer their questions about your home
- Provide competitive intelligence…what other homes are competing with yours for the same kind of Buyer?
- Help identify why your home might not be selling and suggest new strategies (Related: Why is My Home Not Selling?)
- Develop strong relationships and communicate (sometimes endlessly) with the agents showing your home, 24/7
- Provide ongoing feedback about the state of your sale
- Set expectations about offers and the offer process (Related: What to Expect on Offer Night)
- Manage the multiple offer process if you get a bidding war
- Help you understand the legal paperwork, what you’re signing and why (Related: Ontario Paperwork Explained – for Sellers)
- Negotiate the price, conditions and terms of offers, always in your best interest.
- Coordinate receipt of the Buyer’s deposit (Related: All About Deposits)
- Coordinate home inspections (pre or post) offer (Related: Should You Get a Pre-Listing Home Inspection?)
- Manage required waivers and amendments for offers with conditions
- Coordinate with appraisers and assist if things don’t go as planned. (Related: All About Appraisals)
- Connect your lawyer with the Buyer’s lawyer so they can facilitate the closing
- Install a SOLD sign 🙌
- Hold your hand through to closing day, navigating any issues that arise
- Celebrate with you after a successful sale and closing 🍾
