CAN I DO IT MYSELF?

The answer to your question is "Yes, BUT......."

• ...BUT do you want to allow anyone who shows up at your door into your home, or do you want someone to screen "LOOKERS" from "BUYERS"?

• ...BUT do you want to be at home 24 hours a day so you don't miss a potential buyer's phone call or visit, or do you want to have appointments, which accommodate your schedule, made for you ?

• ...BUT do you want to pay for the advertising (newspaper, home guides, internet, signs, open houses, etc.) to put your home on equal footing with the hundreds of houses listed in the local MLS, or do you want a real estate marketing expert to take care of all that for you?

• ...BUT do you want to negotiate with potential buyers, who won't see your home as you do, or do you want someone, who is skilled at negotiating for the best price, to do it for you?

• ...BUT do you want to study pages and pages of North Carolina Real Estate Law so you don't make a mistake that could come back to haunt you, or have someone trained in completing the legal forms to handle it for you?

Heard enough?  The transfer of real estate is too important to be left in the hands of anyone not trained in the process.  Now, if you feel that real estate commissions are just too high, commission rates are what they are due to years of experience in what it truly costs to sell homes in Wilkes County and make a profit capable of sustaining the livelihood of the Realtors® involved in that sale.  If your property doesn't sell, YOU DON'T PAY A DIME for your Realtor's services.  But if your property doesn't sell, your Listing Agent and their Agency loose every cent they've put into the marketing of this property.  That's why we have to charge the commissions we do.  This covers such things as:

• advertising property until it sells (newspaper, home guides, internet, yard signs, open houses, etc.)

• hours spent and miles driven by agents who bring qualified, potential buyers into your home

• maintaining an office, phone, email, website, etc. for the purpose of marketing your property and soliciting qualified, potential buyers to view that property

• countless hours of training by each agent to guarantee that your real estate transaction will be as effortless and stress free as possible.

Now, which of these things do you think you and your home can do without?  Don't you deserve the best?  Then call me at (336)984-0226.

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WHO WILL HELP? 

• Choose a Realtor with whom you feel comfortable.
  • Did they give and explain the brochure, "Working With Real Estate Agents" early in the process?
  • Did they instruct you not to disclose any personal information until you had an agency agreement?
  • Do you feel a connection?
  • Do they seem truly interested in your best interests in this transaction rather than "just making a sale"?

When is a Real Estate Agent a REALTOR®?
The term REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.  The Code establishes time-honored and baseline principles that come from the collective experiences of REALTORS® since the Code of Ethics was first established in 1913. Those principles can be loosely defined as:

• Loyalty to clients;
• Fiduciary (legal) duty to clients;
• Cooperation with competitors;
• Truthfulness in statements and advertising; and non-interference in exclusive relationships that other Realtors have with their clients.

• How is the REALTOR® paid? 
  A REALTOR®, or agent, is paid by their Agency.  Each individual agent and the agency, with which they work, have a working agreement as to the percentage the agent will receive on each sale of property.  Typically, the seller of property is responsible for paying the commission to be split between the Listing Agency and Selling Agency.  Commission is always negotiable and the negotiation is between the Listing Agent and the Seller.  It is not between the Buyer and Seller and is not a part of an Offer to Purchase Contract.
• What can a REALTOR® do?
  • List your home on the local MLS (making it available to the world via the internet)
  • Provide you with a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) to help you decide on a fair asking price
  • Suggest things you can do to help your property sell quicker at the highest possible price
  • Advertise the availability of your home through newspaper ads, home guides, internet web sites, the MLS, yard signs, open houses, etc.)
  • Arrange appointments for qualified potential buyers to view your home
  • Follow-up on showings and report to you on visitor comments
  • Handle all the paper work
  • Present all offers
  • Negotiate on your behalf with potential buyers

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WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE OFFER IS ACCEPTED?:

• After you have accepted the offer of a qualified buyer, there is a period of time (typically 30-45 days) during which the buyer will do the following (at their expense):
  • complete the loan application and supply seller with verification of loan approval as specified in contract
  • schedule inspections (whole house, lead paint, radon, water, pest, survey, etc.)
  • schedule a final "walk-through" of the house prior to closing to verify it is in as good, if not better, condition as when the property was originally seen.
• The Listing Agency will deposit the earnest money (typically between 1-5% of purchase price) into their trust account where it will be held until closing. 
  • If offer is accepted, the earnest money becomes part of purchase price.  It remains in the Listing Agency Trust Account and is delivered at closing
  • If offer is rejected, the earnest money is returned to the buyer
  • If offer is accepted and buyer backs out, the earnest money is forfeited by the buyer and is dispersed according to the listing agreement.

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