Why did the chicken cross the road?

So, there was this chicken, right? And he wanted to cross the road, right? But then he realized that by crossing the road he had forgotten to bring his Realtor with him. This frustrated the chicken because he was now looking for properties on his own and with no direction or help, Soon he wondered, why the hell he had crossed the road in the first place!

This isn’t a new story. We’ve all heard the age old question of “Why the chicken crossed the road.”  I guess a better question would be, “Why are buyers still not using agents?” 

In today’s market, inventory is low, prices are steadily increasing, and rates are not going to be going down anytime soon. If you mix those three ingredients together, you get a recipe for short lived homes on the market. 

Because properties aren’t staying on the market long, buyers need to be using every resource at their disposal. This starts with an experienced Realtor. Having an agent help, starts with a face to face sit down to go over exactly what you are looking for. This gives the agent a clear vision of your vision. Location, size, bedroom and bath number, everything and anything that matters to you. After the canvas is painted with your vision, talk about financing. If you haven’t done so already, get recommendations from family and friends for local lenders. The reason is your friends and family will be usually the most honest about who they would or not use again for their home sale. Your Realtor can also be an excellent resource for a lender referral. Don’t hesitate to ask them.

Ok, you have painted the picture and figured out how much you can afford, next step is getting a search engine started. Your Realtor has direct access to the Multiple Listing Service or MLS. There are public search engines everywhere. Trulia, Zillow, Redfin, Google, yadda, yadda, yadda. Hundreds of them to consider. Only your Realtor can set up an Auto Prospecting Search Engine directly from the MLS. This is a proprietary system that takes only minutes to initiate and runs all the time. This search engine literally emails you properties that match your criteria the same hour they hit the market so you don’t miss a thing. No other search can do that and best of all, it’s free!

Did I mention that already? Free? I guess I was saving the best for last. Using a Realtor to help purchase a property doesn’t cost the buyer a thing. All fees and services for using an agent are paid by the seller of the property.

So, if it doesn’t cost them anything, they are emailed properties daily, and have professional representation from start to finish, why are there still buyers out there on their own? Maybe it truly is to “get to the other side” because no other answer seems to make sense.

Ken Schrier is a licensed Realtor and owner of RE/MAX Marketplace located in Downtown Cotati and serves all of Sonoma County. He can be reached by cell at 707-529-4819, by email at KennethSchrier@gmail.com, by his website at www.KenSchrier.com.