Charter One Realty Blog

When you are in the market to buy a house—or need to sell your current home—that is the time to use an experienced real estate professional. An inexperienced agent can cost you time and money, and unfortunately, maybe even put you at risk of losing out on your dream home.

Current market dynamics mean that experienced real estate agents are all the more valuable. With rare exception, negotiating the transaction is the most complex part of buying or selling real estate. At the same time, it is the one that can involve the most creativity. For that reason, it is important to have an experienced professional on your side who has successfully worked through many different transaction scenarios.

If You Are A Buyer

Searching for real estate for sale in the Lowcountry is something anyone can do on the internet. In fact, the trend of Zillow surfing became an escapism for those who wanted to flee not just their homes but the reality of 2020 and the pandemic. Saturday Night Live even created a Zillow skit about house browsing 'fantasies.'

However, experienced real estate agents work in local markets on a day-to-day basis and can provide the kinds of nuanced information and advice unlikely to be found through online real estate searches.

Here is what an experienced real estate professional brings to the table:

1. Rapport with the realtor community: Experienced agents deal with other REALTORS in the community daily, and this can expedite home sales. For example, if you are looking to buy, your agent can let other agents know to give them a heads-up as soon as a property that is a good fit is about to hit the market.
2. Pulse on the market: Experienced full-time agents can efficiently identify and even predict trends. They can tell you which neighborhoods are trending up or down and why. If you do not need to buy or sell immediately, they can advise you when you should act and when you should wait.
3. Strong referral base: Buying a home typically requires working vendors such as mortgage lenders, title companies, home inspectors, appraisers, general contractors, and pest inspectors. Experienced agents work with such vendors regularly and know who to turn to when navigating the purchase of a property.
4. Community connections: Experienced agents have contacts within the community and in the local industry. If one of the area's top employers is expanding or downsizing, they know about it and how it will impact the market. Additionally, they may hear of zoning amendments that may impact specific neighborhoods before it makes the news. 

If You Are A Seller

Selling a home is not as easy as you might initially think. There are many reasons you will want to have an experienced real estate agent on your side. From negotiation to fielding interested buyers, there is so much to consider, and this why experience matters in today's market. 

Here is what an experienced real estate professional brings to the table:

1. Negotiation experience: Negotiating the best price is an art form best honed by doing it frequently. An experienced real estate agent knows how to navigate the market better than anyone else out there. They are the ones that know everything from regulations to tiny things like the best place to look for buyers. Again, this is what they do every day, so trusting the pros, in this case, is a great idea.
2. Understand contracts and closings: Real estate agents have trained for this, they have taken and passed exams, they continue to educate themselves, and they have done this all before. More than once. Their experience is valuable and worth the costs involved. 
1. Contracts and disclosures are not always easy to understand, especially if you have not gone through the process more than once or twice. Having an agent there to navigate the contract signing and disclosure situations is the key to the successful sale of your home.
2. Closings and closing paperwork can be complicated. Sometimes last-minute things come up, and for a real estate agent that does not deal with closings often, these can be dealbreaker situations.
3.  Pricing advice: For a seller, pricing your home can be emotional. An experienced agent knows your neighborhood, the market, and comparable housing prices. All of these things factor into making sure you are pricing your home effectively. You still have the final say, but an experienced agent can help talk through what you would like to sell the home for and show you what other homes are selling for right now. As a team, you can come up with a price together. An experienced real estate agent is removed from the situation emotionally and still on your side.

Bottom Line

If you are considering buying or selling in the Lowcountry, you really do need to consider all your options to make your transaction a success and that includes using an experienced real estate agent. The truth is there is a lot that goes into buying and selling a house that you may not have considered. An experienced real estate agent knows all the ins and outs of both buying and selling a house.