If you’re set on selling your home in Knoxville, TN, with a real estate agent, you may have considered the pros and cons versus selling FSBO. Although we buy houses in Knoxville direct from homeowners, we often get asked for advice on hiring real estate agents. If you’re looking to get your home sold efficiently for a good value, working with a real estate agent may be in your best interest, especially if you have a unique or custom home.
Always do your research before choosing a Realtor. Ask your friends, family, co-workers or neighbors who they used when they bought their current home. If you personally know a family member with a Tennessee real estate license, think twice before choosing them. Consider how many sales they have under their belt, how many client’s they’ve worked with, and if they are lowering their commission percentage to work with you.
How Many Years of Experience?
This is an important question to ask your Realtor, as it will give you insight into how knowledgeable they may be. Working with an agent that brings at least 3 years of experience to the table is a good sign that they have closed previous deals, and they understand how to work with sellers like yourself. Ask them who they’ve worked with in the past if they’d be willing to give out references of their previous clients for you to vet their services. If an agent doesn’t give this information for at least one of their past clients, it might be a sour sign to start looking for another agent. When you’re looking for experience, be sure to ask how many years they’ve been working in the Knoxville, TN area in particular. Since there has been an influx of new residents to our state, make sure you’re working with a seasoned Realtor that has lived in the area for a while, or even grew up in Tennessee.
How Will They Market Your Home?
Every real estate agent will provide a different answer on how they will market your home. Make sure that you are working with a savvy agent that will be able to market your home to a wide variety of potential buyers without breaking the bank. An agent that provides the most value might use professional photography, social media, and even door knocking throughout a variety of Knoxville neighborhoods. Make sure to question agents that won’t market your property, or won’t do any extra work to make sure it’s seen by the most eyes in their sphere.
Understand The Fees and Commissions
Typically, as a home seller, you’ll pay your real estate agent 6% of the final sale price as a commission for selling your home. From there, your agent typically splits that 6% with the buyer’s agent, which is typically 2.5~3%. You should always ask how much your agent takes as a commission split to understand their response. If they respond in a professional, calm manner why 6% is the standard for their services and the value they would bring to selling your home, they should be considered a good choice to work with. If they try to negotiate too low on their side of the split right away, be careful of listing agents that do this, since they might not be as invested as you’d like in the sale of your home; rather, bringing you the first offer or the best offer. Always look for quality of quantity.
Since this will be your biggest expense when selling your house in Knoxville, lets break down these fees in more detail.
Commission Fees for Real Estate Agents: 5% to 6%
When you hire a listing agent to sell your property in Knoxville, they’ll handle everything from taking photographs to setting up showings and answering inquiries.
You may save time by hiring an agent to perform the homework for you, but the agent’s services are not free. Typically, sellers pay between 5% and 6% of the transaction price in commission fees to the broker. Your real estate agent and the buyer’s agent would both charge $10,000 to $12,000 for a $200,000 house.
The buyer’s agent fee may still come out of your own pocket if you decide to sell the house yourself. Estimates range from $5,000 to $6,000. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, almost nine out of ten purchasers use a real estate agent, thus paying at least a portion of the commission charge may be inevitable.
Between 1.5 and 2 percent, the seller’s concessions.
A seller concession is an agreement on your part to cover a portion of the buyer’s closing fees. To entice the buyer, you may, for example, offer to pay for the buyer’s inspection or title insurance. 1.5% to 2% of house selling price is the usual seller concession, according to Opendoor statistics.
Loan type dictates how many concessions may be granted. Fannie Mae criteria for conventional mortgages enable concessions of up to 3%, 6%, or 9% of the home’s selling price. The limit is determined by the amount of money the buyer puts down as a down payment. Concessions on VA loans are capped at 4%, while FHA loans are capped at 6%.
Between 1% and 3%: Closing costs
To pay for the expenses of the sale of a house, sellers and buyers must pay closing costs. It’s very uncommon to see closing fees of between 2 and 5 percent of the home’s selling price for buyers, while sellers often pay between 1 and 3.
Transfer taxes, an attorney’s fee, recording fees and any property taxes that have accumulated are among the seller’s closing expenses typically.
Are realtor fees worth it in Knoxville?
More than just real estate commissions must be taken into account when estimating the total cost of selling a house. Closing fees, staging charges, taxes, and more must be included into your budget. The normal cost of selling a home is 10% of the sale price.
Determine whether any of these fees apply to your case by going through them one-by-one. As a result, you’ll have a better notion of how much money you’ll be able to put toward the down payment for your future house.
Tip: If selling with an agent, you will have additional closing costs other than commissions. Your agent can help explain each of these costs associated with your transaction.
Ask About The Current Market
By inquiring about the current situation of the market with your realtor, you can gain valuable insight into how quickly they may be able to sell your home! You’ll know exactly what to expect when selling if your realtor is experienced and has worked with numerous sellers rather than simply buyers. Given how competitive the real estate market in Knoxville is, if you work with a listing-focused Realtor, they may already have a buyer lined up for your home.
How Many Clients Are They Currently Working With?
This can be a pro and a con, but is one of those things to watch out for. If an agent is working with several clients, that could be a great indication they are great at their job. Unfortunately, it could also mean they have little time for you. If you experience this situation, research their support staff. Great agents are always busy, but if they have a core group of top notch assistants, it may be ok to proceed with them. Finding a realtor to work with to sell your property can be a difficult and time-consuming process. When you choose the proper agent, your efforts will be rewarded with a successful offer and a smooth closing.
Want To Sell Your House Without An Agent In Knoxville?
If you want to skip the entire hiring an agent and listing your house process; we can certainly help you down this path. We are local local homebuyers in Knoxville that buy houses fast for cash. Our home buying process is super simple and easy as well! We give homeowners the opportunity to sell their house stress free, on their terms, and not be charged a penny. We offer our services 100% free. As a direct buyer, you can skip the stressful showings, the constant cleaning, and the time consuming open houses!
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