Survey: More buyers using Realtors in transactions | Local Business | heraldextra.com
Good news for Realtors and their buyers. For private sellers, not so much.
According to a just-completed 2016 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers survey by the National Association of Realtors, “First-time buyers made up 35 percent of all home buyers, an increase over last year’s near all-time low of 32 percent, reports NAR’s just-released profile of buyers and sellers, now celebrating its 35th year. A whopping 88 percent purchased their home through an agent or broker.”
So what does that mean? It means buyers, particularly first-time buyers, are back and turning to agents in droves to get help in buying a house. And with all the intricacies of this business, it’s not surprising.
Also, with the feds heaping on more mortgage disclosure requirements, like they did a year ago, combined with the disclosures sellers must produce at the behest of Realtors, it’s getting even more difficult for the untrained. One missed document could lead to a lawsuit, and more lawsuits are filed between private buyers and private sellers than any other real estate transaction, according to Jerry Bresser in his book, “More Money in Your Pocket.”
Bresser outlines in his book how to get the most out of your home when you sell based on hiring the right Realtor, then with that agent pricing it right, commissioning it right and finally staging it right. All three steps are closely intertwined to work in concert for the benefit of all. (For examples to see how I have used that method go to http://www.brellamarketing.com/Services.html.)
The NAR report also noted that, “Buyers need the help of a real estate professional to help them find the right home for them, negotiate terms of sale, and help with price negotiations. Sellers, as well, turn to professionals to help market their home to potential buyers, sell within a specific timeframe, and price their home competitively. For-sale-by-owner sales have dropped to the lowest level recorded in this data set at 8 percent of sales again this year, while the use of the agent to sell the home stays at historic highs. Likewise, the buyer’s use of the agent is at historic highs as buyers purchasing directly from a previous owner or through a builder falls.”