Selling my house. Do I need an agent?

A friend, her husband and son are currently interested in purchasing a home in Pinole. I’ve no idea if your house is what they’re looking for but it’s worth them knowing about it. They mistakenly purchased a home in New Jersey and are currently selling it to return the the BA. 

Thanks. 

I work in the real estate industry, but I'm not a realtor so I see this topic from a different perspective as a industry professional. As a realtor's assistant, I would definitely get a Realtor! I remember when we bought our house, we had representation, but i thought I could save money by at least auditing the disclosures myself.  It's was a lot more work for my own house than I hoped for and I am used to the piles of paperwork! There's lots of documents you need to have up front, then there's others you have to gather as you're in escrow. it's all confusing and a PITA when you're not sure of what you're doing.

You also need someone who is going to look at the transaction objectively and isn't emotionally attached to the home because in the end, if you have a good realtor, they'll market your home to a larger audience, negotiate with the other party to sell your home for more gains that you would have if you sold it on your own. Also, most agents put their listings on the MLS (multiple listing service which agents have membership to) which gets blasted onto all the real estate websites: Redfin, Trulia, Zillow, etc. If you decide to hire an agent, ask them how they advertise your property. Because their reach and network is worth something. And with everything else, you do get what you pay for.

All of what i wrote sounds sales-y, but it's all things that sellers don't think of. If you really don't want to hire a realtor and already have a buyer lined up, i would at least hire a real estate attorney to handle all the paperwork. Good luck!

Yes! And it is because I am an agent that I am saying this (ie, not because I need or want work - I am very busy - but bc I promise you, with all my heart, that you will lose money if you don't work with an agent. I would be happy to talk on the phone to you and explain why and then have nothing to do with selling your home. I strongly urge you to interview 3 agents and find someone you adore, who is smart, communicative and strikes you as exceptionally straight forward.

When we were looking for a house, we noticed that a seller used Zillow to advertise their home 

as "Make Us Move"  We saw the house and would have bid on it if it was the right home.  

Nowadays w/ homes in the bay area in such high demand, you can advertise online and just

have a realator sign the papers for you for much less.  I hired HelpUSell and negotiated a low fee of 

1% instead of customary 3%.  I would go with someone w/ a brokerage license like Jas,

jasdeepak [at] helpusell.com.   Warning that greedy real estate agents will not bring their clients to your home if you 

do not give them the conventional 3% fee.  But you won't need them if someone wants to bid

on the house and willing to pay their agent.. it's all up to your negotiation.  We paid Jas

1% and I did the flyer.  it turned out gorgeous.  I also staged my own home, spending the $4K

estimate given to state my Moraga home and spent it on new furniture and all that decor

that stagers use to make a home look like a model home.  So in short, you don't need to 

hire a regular greedy real estate agent.  If you want someone to give you all these services,

the only agent I would ever use again is Leslie Shafton of Dudum real estate.  She is one 

of the organizers of the Walnut Creek Women's March, and is a wonderful human being who

loves making our society a better place.  I worked with her also and highly recommend her.

Let her know that Susan of PASE sent you.  She may donate something to our all-volunteer

organization that works to remove pesticides in the communities and to replace them with

safer alternative methods that work elsewhere.