By Erica Sweeney

A guest article by David Allen.  A 7 minute read

​If you're planning to sell your property, one of the first and most important decisions you'll have to make is whether you'll hire a real estate agent or not. Even though selling a property is a complex and time-consuming process, many people are still reluctant when it comes to paying commission for agent services. Some homeowners simply prefer to go solo with their home sale, although they often realize that they've made a terrible mistake. If you want to avoid the risks of many complications along the way, you should consider the reasons why selling without an agent is a recipe for disaster.
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You don’t have home selling expertise and knowledge. If you want to sell your home quickly and for top dollar, you'll need a local agent with experience in selling homes such as yours. The most important factors why people hire a real estate agent are:

• Because they are familiar with the local market and current trends
• They can provide insights that are hard to get otherwise
• They have specialized knowledge that is impossible to find online
• Agents always work in the client's best interest, trying to sell each home for the maximum price
• They analyze all the relevant data and ensure that the client and the home are fully prepared before hitting the market
  
  

A real estate transaction is a significant financial transaction, and selling your home is a major event in your life. So, it only makes sense to work with a professional that will help ensure all goes smoothly.

​You need valuable professional advice.

Sellers usually pay a commission to their chosen real estate agent at the closing after all the important work is already done. If you know anyone who has recently sold a home, you may ask them if they find an agent's services valuable and worth the money.
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Real estate agents sometimes offer certain perks at no additional cost. Those may include the services of a professional photographer, staging advice, some home improvement tips, etc. All these extras can make your home sell more quickly and for a better price. Also, agents have a vast network of clients and other agents. That can prove helpful in bringing more potential buyers to look at your home. Years of experience guarantee that your agent has valuable connections in the industry, and that's exactly what you need.

If you hope to do it all on your own, you’ll lose a lot of precious time.

Most sellers simply don't have time to lose, and that's the main reason to hire an agent. It takes a lot of time to schedule and manage appointments. If you have a very demanding job and you don't have a lot of spare time, you can rely on your agent every step of the way. While you're on a business trip or a vacation, they can handle showings and negotiations, so you won't have to turn off any potential buyers. It also takes a lot of patience to respond to agent and buyer questions, concerns, and objections professionally. Trying to do everything independently and selling without an agent may significantly prolong the home selling process.

​All your marketing strategies might be in vain.

Most sellers don't know how to successfully market their property. To be able to do so, you need to be familiar with the buyer demographic for your neighborhood. You need to know how to target and reach prospective buyers. When it comes to effective marketing, an experienced real estate agent is your main ally. They know the best ways to reach and appeal to a targeted group of buyers. Also, they have access to predictive analytics, and they know how to strategically promote your home. They can make the best use of traditional as well as modern (online/social media) marketing methods. With the right marketing campaign, you will be able to attract lots of buyers.

The closing can become a nightmare.

The agent's role is crucial during the closing. Closing implies signing a lot of paperwork and dealing with complicated terminology. A real estate agent should be there to help you with all the paperwork, double-check the legal matters, and answer any questions you might have before you sign the documents.

It can prolong the process of moving to another home.

Another reason why selling without an agent is a recipe for disaster is that it can significantly prolong the process of moving to another home. If you don't set the right price for your home, don't stage it properly, and don't invest in a successful marketing campaign, the selling process may postpone other planned events in your life, such as buying another home and moving there. You may not be able to concentrate on many important tasks ahead of you, and you may even end up selling your home for a much lower price than its actual value.
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On the other hand, if you hire a reliable real estate agent, the whole process will be much smoother and probably faster as well. After the closing, the real estate agent will explain when you should have the house vacant and what the condition of the house should be when you are moving out. Meanwhile, you should also find someone to take care of everything related to your relocation. If you hire full-service movers, you can rely on them for packing, furniture dissembling, storage solutions, safe transport of your items, and much more. Then, you'll finally be able to relax knowing that your belongings will be safely transferred to your new property with utmost care.
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Final thoughts.
Selling a property is not as easy as it may seem at the start. Finding the right buyer and getting the price you want requires a lot of patience and confidence, and selling without an agent is a recipe for disaster on many levels. If you have an experienced agent by your side, you'll be able to minimize the stress that occurs during the sale process. Also, you'll avoid many risks along the way.

Episode 186 AskJasonGelios Real Estate Show

By John Carlucci | Prudential Cal    

Buying a condo can be the perfect way to live in affordability and style, without getting into the hassle of single-family home-ownership. Condos are usually less expensive and usually offer amenities that you won't get at home, like a pool or gym membership for an extra fee.
Buying your first condo, you’ll need to understand all the factors that matter when checking out the best suitable one for you. 

Laura Woods - Yahoo Finance Writer
Featuring expertise by Realtor Jason Gelios
4 minute read

By Whitney Coy-Realtor.com

Episode 185 AskJasonGelios Real Estate Show

Realtor Rant-Jason Gelios

I had the pleasure of being a part of this great article by Andrew Lisa and GoBankingRates. 

As a real estate agent, you get the privilege of helping people find their dream homes. With that privilege comes the responsibility to know and abide by fair housing laws. But what are they and how do you follow them? Here's all you need to know. ​

An article by Shawn M. Carter. Featured expertise by Jason Gelios

The median cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment is climbing in many parts of the country. That’s a scary prospect for the Americans who are still financially recovering from the pandemic.
In fact, 2 in 5 renters say their housing budget is already stretched to the max and they wouldn’t be able to handle a $150 monthly rent increase, according to a new survey from Rent.com. Researchers at the site polled 1,200 people, ages 18 to 70, to understand how the Covid crisis changed their finances and how it could affect their ability to afford the area where they live.

A 6 minute read

Every homeowner is guilty of doing this: Guessing how much your house is worth.  

With a tight housing supply and low mortgage rates, the real estate market has been hot for the past year.  Meanwhile, homeowners may be thinking about taking advantage of these trends to tap into home equity for repairs or other needs. The value of your home has likely gone up over the past year. According to the National Association of Realtors, the median price in May for existing homes was $350,300, a record year-over-year increase of 23.6%. The group points out that the real estate market has seen 111 straight months of year-over-year gains since March 2012.

If you’re thinking of selling your home or are just curious, here is how you can find out how much your house is worth.

Episode 184 | AskJasonGelios Real Estate Show

By Kelly Walters

These 5 timeless ideas work because they’re both fun and functional.

Outdoor entertaining spaces aren’t always equal when it comes to home value (think about that house with the falling-down above-ground pool with no curb appeal at all). Homes that get them right, though, have patios and backyards that blur inside and outside spaces.

And the best thing: these outdoor entertaining space ideas have been working for decades — and adapt to most any house today. Here are five reasons why they work (and why you may want to add to your home):

#1 They Function Like Indoor Spaces
The more outdoor entertaining spaces mimic their indoor equivalents, the more functional they are. And you’ll get more than sunshine and memories: According to the “Remodeling Impact Report” from the National Association of REALTORS®, you’ll recoup 70% of your costs on resale after building a new patio. An outdoor kitchen gets 71%.

A couple of small ways to get more functionality in your outdoor space:
Add built-in benches for seating.
Hang a chandelier or pendant lights for functional lighting over a dining space.

#2 They Create Privacy Without Blocking Light
Precast-concrete geometric blocks protect privacy without blocking light or air in outdoor entertaining spaces. Plus, they’re super affordable and durable. Use them to screen a patio or carport, fence in your patio, or as a vertical element to make small yards feel larger. It’s a small project with big impact.

#3 They Find Clever Ways to Provide Shade
Low, sloping roofs help transition from indoors to outdoors by casting shade and protection from the elements. If extending the roof isn’t an option for your home or budget (fair), you can still make some shade. For example:  Try a pergola planted with vines. Or a retractable awning, which keeps the sun off when you want it to, and rolls back into place when you don’t. 

#4 They Use Lots of Windows — and Big Ones
Large windows help merge inside and outside living. Even if you don’t have the ultimate in window bling like this atrium, you can increase the natural light in your home. Consider: Trading smaller windows and doors for big accordion, pocket, sliding or swinging doors, or replacing a plain wall with a wall of glass doors. Adding a corner window, to create the effect of an atrium or courtyard.

#5 They Take ‘Entertaining Outdoors’ Seriously
Though a sport court isn’t exactly a high ROI project, being the fun house on the block certainly does a little something to a home’s appeal.

And, after all, an outdoor entertaining space should do just that: entertain. Here’s to a fun summer season!