Found Someone to Buy Your Home? You Still Need an Agent!

Found Someone to Buy Your Home? You Still Need an Agent!

You want to sell your home and you are lucky enough to already have someone who wants to buy it. That’s great, but even if you have found someone to buy your home, you still need a trusted real estate agent!

If you want your home sales process to go as smoothly as possible, you should consider working with a real estate agent even if you have a buyer lined up and ready to buy your home.

A recent article from realtor.com outlined the key parts of the home buying process where a real estate agent can be helpful—even if you’ve found a buyer on your own—including:

• The offer. Even if someone verbally makes an offer on your home, that offer isn NOT legally binding. A real estate agent will help you get the offer in writing. And ensure that offer is compliant with all state and local laws. Your agent can also help manage the potential buyer’s earnest money. This is an escrow account with a third-party. This will be a title company or a real estate attorney.  In our Alachua County area, the seller always selected the closing agent.
• Terms of sale and contingencies. You may have found someone who wants to buy your home, but to ensure the process goes smoothly, you’ll need an agent. This is to help you iron out the terms of sale and contingencies; that way, there are no misunderstandings that could hold up the sale of your home. For example, are all the appliances included with your home sale—or will you be taking your washer and dryer with you when you leave? Are the buyers using financing to purchase the home—and, as such, is an appraisal required by the lender? An agent will know all the right questions to ask—and ensure that the terms of sale and contingencies are clearly outlined for both parties. Other issues will be a buyers right to a home inspection, and a lender may require a boundary survey. All of these items fall into the terms of the sale.
• The closing. There is a lot of paperwork to sign and file when you close on a home—and if anything is missed, it could cause issues with the sale. A real estate agent will help coordinate all the logistics of the closing—including scheduling the signing—and ensuring that everything goes smoothly.

The Takeaway:

Bottom line? If you’re planning on selling your home, hiring a real estate agent is an absolute must—even if you already have a buyer in the wings. We are here to help you!  Please call us for any of your Gainesville area real estate needs.