Today’s estate agent deserves respect
Category Blog
“The proliferation of services that help home buyers and sellers complete their own real estate transactions is relatively recent, and it may have you wondering whether using a real estate agent is becoming a relic of a bygone era.”
This point was made in a past issue of America’s Forbes magazine, under the headline “Five Reasons Why You Still Need A Real Estate Agent”. It certainly has resonance in today’s recession-impaired South African homes market.
The five reasons highlighted in the article:
- Flying solo…could end up being more costly than (agent) commission in the long run.
- Sellers can benefit from a hard-nosed real estate agent who will represent their interest without turning off buyers who want to niggle on price
- Buyers are likely to move on if you don’t respond quickly enough
- Experienced agents know how to use the contract to protect you
- When you get into a difficult situation, it can really pay to have a professional on your side.
Wear the shoe
This is a shoe that fits the South African residential real estate market right now. Homeowners and buyers alike should wear it.
They should respect and utilise the services of professional residential real estate agents. They offer skills, experience, databases, networks, negotiating abilities, and grasp of intricate buy/sell contracts.
These credentials are essential to favourable outcomes at the best of times. In the current downturn, they are vital.
That is why ill-equipped, borderline, and non-performing agents have by now, as in past downturns, been largely forced out of play.
This has been happening in much the same way as it did at the start of the 2008/9 global financial crisis, which saw the then exodus from the SA homes market of some 50 000 agents.
In the early-millennial boom years prior to that, the number of estate agents in South Africa had ballooned from 25 000 to 80 000. It seemed at the time that anybody – and everybody – could sell a home without any real estate credentials to speak of.
History repeats itself
Now that slow-moving, non-performing agents are once again disappearing off the radar screen, it seems that history is poised to repeat itself. Sellers should, therefore, respect the well established, truly professional, agents and give them the space and tools to perform.
But today there are many sellers who simply doubt the value that estate agents provide. For instance, agents filter the phone calls and identify both the genuine buyers as well as the time-wasting ‘tyre-kickers’. They are neighbourhood-savvy and they will be aware of the area dynamics, as well as what price thresholds prevail. They will also be top negotiators on price, as well as fully streetwise on the legal aspects of deal-closing.
So, why not let them fly!
A shrinking agent community
The fact is that today’s South African homeowners are confronted by a market in which no agent can simply ‘wing it’. Neither should he or she be given the opportunity to try and do so.
That is why the ranks of the estate agent community are shrinking once again.
What remains is a hard core of well entrenched, highly experienced agents who have generally seen it all before. They know how to market in the face of adversity. And, in general, they deserve the respect and reputation that they command.
Author: Ronald Ennik
