The Pros and Cons of Using a Real Estate Agent When Selling Your House

If you are thinking of selling your home, especially if it's for the first time, you may have a lot of questions about what that process looks like.

One of the big questions you may have is whether you need a real estate agent to help sell your home. After all, their services can be quite expensive and that's money you might want to keep to help with your next home purchase. On the other hand, real estate agents have plenty of experience getting houses sold to the owner's satisfaction — and you probably don't.

With that in mind, the following are some of the pros and cons of working with a real estate agent to sell your home:

PRO: Agents know the ins and outs of your market

Any agent worth their salt knows how to properly price your home to ensure you get the best mix of value and interest from would-be buyers. They also understand how to make sure the property is as presentable as possible, and how to negotiate on your behalf.

But perhaps most important: They know all the ropes when it comes to the latest legal and regulatory issues around selling, Homelight says.

A real estate agent can be a huge help with a home sale, but it comes with a cost.

CON: You may not get all the attention you want

Especially at busier times of the year, you won't have an agent's undivided attention, as they probably have multiple clients. You may feel that, for the money you're paying them, they need to basically be on call 24/7.

That's not really realistic — or fair to the agent — so if you want that level of attention, you'll probably want to go it alone. That's especially true if you're trying to sell quickly because, as noted by Fast Home Help, agents can't always accommodate your desired timeline .

PRO: An agent will save you time and plenty of headaches
If you're able to sell your home on a slightly more relaxed timeline, working with an agent can be a huge help, simply because of the number of issues they will take off your plate , according to Real Simple.

Without an agent, you have to research your market, figure out the right price, put in the legwork to promote the home listing, set up open houses, sort through offers, work through legal documents and on and on. Yes, you will be paying them a hefty commission, but that's the tradeoff for saving dozens of hours and avoiding a potentially sizable misstep in the sales process.

Unless you are on an extremely tight timeline or supremely confident in your own ability to navigate the murky waters of a home sale on your own, it's usually best to work with an agent throughout the process. Contact a local Vectra Bank representative to learn more about the financial* ins and outs of selling your home and buying a new one.

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