When a house seller goes to a real estate agent, they ask two question to an agent: How much can they get from their home, and what will be the agent’s commission? With so much information already available on the internet, many house sellers wonder what the need to hire a real estate agent is.

Real estate agents are professionals who represent a buyer or a seller while making a real estate deal. They help a seller in listing their property, showing the property, negotiating the price and in filing the required paperwork.

Angus Reed – co-founder of Lyons Capital Pty Ltd made a list of a few reasons to hire a real estate agent. Here are they:

1. Knowledge and Experience: Buying and selling a property is a complex process and involves various steps. Learning these things by yourself can keep you busy for many days and even if you do, you won’t have the practical experience to do the deal. It is way easier to hire an agent to perform these tasks and utilize our time in something which is more productive.

2. Save you from builder’s agents: A property agent knows who are the builder’s agents and know how to keep them away from your property. They will filter all those phone calls that will lead to nowhere and will only entertain those who are serious buyers. If you’re selling it by yourself, you might get caught by these people and show them your property, only to find out that they’re not interested in buying your property.

3. They know the neighborhood: They have a good knowledge of the past deals that have occurred in your area. A real estate agent usually has the knowledge if the deal was neutral or was inclined to one side. They know the right rate below which you should not sell and above which it will be hard to find a buyer. Although they do not select the price at which a seller sells or the buyer buys, but can guide you as in what price will be right.

4. Negotiation skills: A common house owner cannot possess the skills of negotiating a real estate property. An agent is not a messenger, whose job is just to deliver information. They negotiate a price which a buyer will be willing to take. Because of this skill, they can save you a lot more than what they charge you.

5. Professional Network: A real estate agent usually has many contacts. If there is a potential buyer in the market, they will be first to know this thing. You may overlook a newspaper advertisement but they won’t. They will get the contacts of the buyer very soon and will make an early move. If you do it by yourself, there’s a high probability that you may miss out the buyer because of lack of contacts.

6. Handling the paperwork: Wrongly handled paperwork can lead you to future confusions or disputes. This can have far-reaching consequences that you can’t even think of. Property documents can be around an inch thick and even one mistake or an omission can cost you in thousands of dollars or even more! These agents have the proper knowledge of what mandatory disclosures should the document include. Hence, hiring a real estate agent can save you from unforeseeable future problems.

An agent takes a small part of the deal as their commission, but it is completely worth it. It is important to select the right agent to make sure you get all these benefits. You should be very careful while choosing the agent.