Glenville, GA and its neighbors, Reidsville, Claxton, Jesup, and other communities in Tattnall County are some of the best places to set down roots. The undeniable small town charm, family-friendly lifestyle, convenient amenities, and rustic environment are the dream of many people looking for a tranquil haven.
It’s no wonder real estate values in the area have been significantly rising in the last 10 years, nearly doubling from 10 years ago and increasing by almost 13% from January, 2020 to January, 2021. There’s a wide range of property types, from acreage and agricultural properties to cozy single-family houses and affordable starter homes.
If you’re looking to buy or sell a home in Tattnall County, you can make the most out of your opportunities by working with the right Realtor. Doing it on your own can be a tempting idea, but you’ll be losing out on the many benefits of hiring a real estate agent.
Find out why having a professional by your side is the best thing you can do when buying or selling a home.
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The benefits of hiring the right real estate agent
Realtors are licensed real estate professionals who have trained for years to provide guidance to home buyers, sellers, and investors. Their knowledge and professional experience can go a long way to helping you close a great transaction.
Benefits to home buyers
- Expert guidance at no cost
- More efficient home search
- Access to privately listed properties
- Access to local market data
- Negotiation skills
As a buyer, the benefits of hiring a real estate agent are two-fold – you get the services and guidance of a professional without paying for them. In most transactions, it is the home seller who pays the agents’ commission fees at closing. If the listing and buying agent is the same, they get the commission in full, and if there’s a separate listing and buying agent, they split the commission fee paid by the seller.
Browsing the internet is a great way to start your home search. You can find numerous listings in a wide range of sizes, prices, and neighborhoods. This will give a good idea of what to expect in homes for sale in Tattnall County and nearby areas.
However, filtering your many options can prove to be highly time consuming and tedious. You will likely find more than a few properties that seem to match your preferences. How do you know which ones are truly right for you?
That’s where a real estate agent comes in. As local experts, they will be highly familiar with the various properties for sale in their area. They can help you narrow down your choices to include only those that tick most, if not all, your boxes. They can also devote all the time needed to watch the market for new listings with potential so you get a headstart over other buyers.
Many home or land owners prefer to keep the sale of their properties under wraps for various reasons. In many cases, the only way you’ll learn about these is through your agent.
Realtors typically have a wide network that includes other agents and brokers, who may have clients with private listings. Real estate agents often share information about property leads with each other, and give priority to clients of other Realtors within their network.
Real estate agents are privy to the latest market information that are crucial in your decision making. In determining an offer price, for example, your agent will use the latest housing trends in the area to come up with a competitive offer while making sure you don’t come out on the losing end. These include data such as housing demand, inventory, value appreciation, and the number of days a home stays on the market.
Real estate professionals are trained to negotiate strongly on behalf of their clients. Unlike home buyers and sellers, they can remain objective throughout the process and not be swayed by their emotions. This is particularly helpful when negotiations get tricky – the pros will know how to keep home sellers engaged while making sure your interests are protected.
Benefits to home sellers
- Accurate home pricing
- Keen understanding of buyers’ preferences
- Marketing strategies that work
- Negotiating savvy
- Widespread network
The most important factor in selling your home fast is accurate pricing. Overpricing can cause your home to sit on the market longer than needed, while underpricing can lead to lost opportunities. A Realtor can help you determine the right price for your property by doing a market analysis of recently sold homes in your area, and factoring in other elements, such as your property’s condition, the desirability of your neighborhood, and real estate trends.
Experienced Realtors know what buyers are looking for in a home. They can help you determine the repairs and improvements your property needs to improve its value, and can work on staging the home – whether on their own or in collaboration with a professional – to make it appealing to a wider range of buyers.
One of the major benefits of hiring a real estate agent is the amount of work and time a professional puts into marketing your home. In addition to helping you make your home more attractive, your Realtor will also create a marketing strategy that involves both proven and innovative techniques, such as listing the property on the MLS and other big listing sites, video marketing, networking, social media marketing, and so on.
Your real estate agent will also work in creating a great listing, with professional photos, detailed descriptions, and comprehensive information. In addition, they can arrange to create property videos, virtual home tours, and other state-of-the-art marketing tools.
Your Realtor will help you review the offers you receive and determine which ones are worth pursuing. They will closely examine each buyer’s terms and contingencies, and watch out for anything detrimental to your interests. With their training and experience, they know how to negotiate with buyers so you get the highest price and best deal for your home.
Reaching the right buyers through listings can take time, but a real estate agent will not rely on that alone. They can spread word about your property for sale through other realtors and brokers. In many cases, marketing through an agent’s network is the fastest way to close a sale.
Typically, an experienced Realtor also knows other professionals whose services are essential to the home selling process. These include lawyers, mortgage brokers, home inspectors, insurance agents, closing agents, and title specialists. An agent’s connections can save you from having to find the right professional from scratch. Your Realtor can also leverage the relationship they have built with these businesses to help close the sale fast.
Is FSBO (For Sale By Owner) a good option?
The idea of not having to work with an agent to sell a home can be quite enticing. You can save on commission fees, which, to many, is a good enough reason to take this route. What you may not realize is that any savings you get can easily be wiped out by unforeseen consequences.
Here’s a close look at why FSBO may not be the right solution for you.
- Your home can sit on the market longer than necessary
- You can lose out on some great opportunities
- You need to devote plenty of time to selling the property
- The right experience
- Local expertise
- Specialization
- Get referrals
- Review agents’ websites
- Know their success rate
- Interview potential Realtors
An FSBO seller can hire a Realtor to have their property listed on the MLS, then do the rest of the marketing themselves. However, this is often not enough to give the home the widespread exposure it needs, especially when there are plenty of other properties for sale in the area.
As previously mentioned, a Realtor uses an arsenal of marketing tools to sell a home more quickly and effectively. Their network is an essential part of their selling strategy – and this is something most non-professionals don’t have.
Likewise, with their experience and knowledge, a real estate agent knows how to target the right buyers, allowing them to achieve more favorable results with less effort.
Additionally, homeowners tend to overprice their home, as their emotions tell them it is worth more than what it can actually fetch on the market. Overpricing is the single biggest reason a property languishes on the market – something that you can avoid by hiring a professional real estate agent who knows how to price a home accurately.
Without a Realtor’s widespread reach, you will likely have a limited pool of buyers and lose out on opportunities for a bidding war. Likewise, without the proper negotiation skills or experience, you can end up accepting an offer that’s less than what you might have received had you been represented by an experienced professional.
Seasoned real estate agents can also get a feel about how motivated a buyer is in acquiring your property, and can negotiate for the best price and purchase terms based on this.
Selling a home is a long and tedious process. You have to spend time preparing the property for the sale, as well as marketing and showing it to potential buyers, including those who are simply curious or are not serious about buying.
You also have to deal with the mountain of paperwork that typically comes with the process. This involves coordinating with lawyers, lenders, inspectors, title agents, and other professionals, and making sure they complete the required documents on time. When you have a job or other responsibilities to take care of, the lack of time can lead to even more delays or lost opportunities.
If you hire an agent, they will do much of the hard work for you. They can qualify a buyer and weed out those who are simply wasting your time. A Realtor can also do the chasing for the necessary paperwork, thus freeing your time for your other activities.
What to look for in a real estate agent
Working with a real estate agent certainly comes with plenty of benefits. But the success of your venture also depends on who you work with. To have the best and most fruitful experience, you need to partner with someone who’s the perfect fit to your needs and goals.
These are some of the qualities you should look for in a real estate agent:
A real estate transaction can be highly nuanced. Whether you’re buying or selling a home, you have to deal with numerous details and should have a good feel of the market to close a great transaction.
An experienced Realtor is highly knowledgeable about the business and knows how to negotiate with buyers and sellers in order to get the best deal for their clients. With years of experience, they can help you navigate the market and make the most out of your opportunities, regardless of whether the market favors buyers or sellers.
A Realtor who has been in the business for a long time is also in the best position to help you overcome any unforeseen obstacles or stumbling blocks. They have likely gone through numerous challenges over the years, and can tap into these experiences and the network they’ve built to find the right solution to any setback.
As they say, real estate is local, so the best Realtor to represent you is also a local who knows the market by heart. As they are highly familiar with the area, a local real estate agent can give you insider advice about the homes and neighborhoods that best suit your lifestyle and budget.
Home prices can vary widely from one neighborhood to the next, or even from one block to the next. They can also be affected by any development in the area, such as a new shopping center or the construction of a nearby airport. In addition, different communities offer different attractions and amenities, including parks, an active downtown area, and so on.
A local expert keeps themselves informed about community features, events, and market developments so they can provide their clients with the information they need in making important decisions.
Realtors often specialize in specific areas, which allows them to develop local expertise. In buying or selling a home in Tattnall County and the surrounding areas, work with professionals who focus on the local market so you can benefit from their in-depth knowledge.
It’s also best to work with an agent who has experience in the type of transaction you want to engage in, whether it’s buying, selling, or investing. A Realtor who represents both buyers and sellers is ideal as that means they can analyze the situation from the viewpoint of both sides.
You would also want to work with someone who has experience in the type of home you want to buy or sell. The top agents often focus on specific types of real estate, such as luxury properties, ranches and acreages, condos, foreclosures, and so on. Browse an agent’s listing and see if their specialization aligns with what you are looking for.
How to find the right Realtor
Finding the right real estate agent takes time and research. Before signing any agreement, make sure you’ve learned everything you can about a potential Realtor and are ready to take the next step in hiring them.
Here are some tips on how to find the right Realtor:
Ask people you know to refer you to agents they’ve worked with in the past. This is a great way to learn about how a Realtor works and get an idea on whether you will get along well with them.
Search the internet for local Realtors, then take the time to go through the websites of potential agents. Updated, professional websites are a good indication of the agents’ technological savvy and commitment to provide quality service. You can also get a lot of information from a Realtor’s website, such as their experience, background, service areas, and the types of properties they specialize in.
A high success rate is an indicator of a Realtor’s experience and abilities. If you can’t find this information on the internet or from other sources, make sure to ask the agent about it when you get to talk to them.
Talk to at least three Realtors and ask them for information about themselves and how they can help you achieve your goals. A face-to-face interview, whether physical or online, will also give you a good feel of how it is to work with the agent.
Partner with the local experts at McLeod Properties
If you’re looking to buy, sell, or invest in a home or acreage property in the Glenville, Claxton, Reidsville, and Jesup areas, we at McLeod Properties are the team to call.
We are a full service real estate group who have been serving Tattnall County, GA and the surrounding areas since 2008. Over the years, we have developed a reputation for our personal integrity and unparalleled service.
Our founder, William Justin McLeod, heads a team of professional agents who have the expertise and experience to help you find the perfect property fast or sell your home at the highest price.
We will be happy to meet with you and provide you with all the information you need to know about our team and our services. Call us today at 912.654.1702 or send us an email at justin(at)mcleodpropertiesnow(dotted)com