There are so many reasons to hire a real estate agent that it’s hard to list them all.   Most importantly is realizing how valuable your home is.  For more people, their home is the largest asset they have.  Why would you risk something so important to someone who is not a highly trained expert?  There are many pitfalls and challenges to selling your home and without proper training and experience, it could be the most costly mistake of your life.  Talk to your Maine Real Estate Pro for more details on why you should hire us! 

Commissions vary and are negotiable. Like most things, generally speaking, the more you pay, the more services you will get.  Maine Real Estate Pros is a FULL SERVICE real estate company.  We not only list your home on the Multiple Listing Service, but we can provide you with comparative market data to help price your home properly,  market your property, attend showings, negotiate on your behalf, prepare agreements and sales documents, help you through the maze of disclosures, important dates,  and do a number of other services your Maine Real Estate Pro would be happy to discuss during your consultation.  

Other than choosing the right real estate agent, choosing the price to market your home at is probably the most important decision you can make.  Your Maine Real Estate Pro will provide you with comprehensive data and relevant market research to give you all the information you and your agent will need to come up the right price to get a fast sale at the highest price possible.  

Staging your home can be as simple as “freshening up” the house with some paint and a good cleaning all the way to renting a house full of furniture and accessories to show the possibilities and what it can be like.  

As for whether or not staging is important, the answer is yes.  Research shows that staged homes almost always generate more offers and sell for more money than homes that are not staged.  This does not mean a home that isn’t staged cannot sell, it just means it’s probably easier and more profitable to spend some time and/or money staging the property.  

Many economic factors will determine how much your home sells for.  Interest rates are just one of those factors but a very important factor.  When rates are high the banks make more money so you will most likely make less.  Why?  Because most people shop based on their monthly payment and a 1% raise in rates has a big impact on the monthly payment.  For example, if you have a $500,000 mortgage for 30 years at a rate of 5%, the buyer’s mortgage payment (principle and interest) would be approximately $2700.  If you add just 1% and the rates goes up to 6% the buyer’s monthly payment goes up to $3000!  To put this in perspective…. in the example above, the adjusted sale price for the buyer to get that same $2700 payment would drop your list price from $500,000 to $450,000.  In other words, you would have to sell your house for $50,000 LESS for that buyer to not feel the crunch of the higher rates.  

Furthermore, when rates are low it’s likely there are more buyers out shopping which creates a higher demand on your property.  Unless the supply of homes for sale is unnaturally high, that would mean you’d make MORE money because high demand drives up prices.