By definition, a realtor is a real estate professional who holds membership in their country’s association of realtors. This is a professional association for all those involved in the business of real estate.
The term realtor is regarded as a legal collective membership trademark and can, therefore, only be used by real estate professionals affiliated to the national association of realtors. As a realtor, you can be a real estate broker, an appraiser, a counsellor, a property manager or a salesperson, among other real estate specialties.
Let’s look at the six realtor responsibilities when selling a client’s home:
Realtor Responsibility #1: Pricing the home correctly
Pricing is everything in real estate. It determines whether or not you make a profitable sale. Overprice the home, and buyers will avoid it. Underprice it, and you end up losing money for the seller (and yourself).
To correctly price a home, check the local real estate markets as well as comparable recent sales. Also, monitor sales activities on the national database of homes for sale.
As part of your realtor responsibilities, you need to conduct research on the average market days for this particular type of property, price range and location. Also, prepare a comparable market analysis (CMA) to determine its fair market price. Based on your evaluation of the property, you could choose to set a price that’s close to the original listing price or, better, higher than the appraisal value.
Realtor Responsibility #2: Prepare and present the listing
Before listing a home in the multiple listing service database, determine its estimated value and conduct extensive research to get as close to the real price as possible. Prepare a listing presentation package containing legal information and specifications on the property, such as size and dimensions.
Next, set up a meeting with the seller to give them an overview of the research findings. Before they append their signature, go through all clauses in the listing contract and jointly settle on an exact price for the property.
A realtor’s responsibility is to explain how an agent-seller relationship works, and what’s expected of each party. As you go about these realtor responsibilities, check to verify that the home is in good condition and expeditiously attend to any clearances that need to be completed.
Once the property is on MLS, add it to your company’s active listings and send signed copies of the listing agreement and MLS profile datasheet to the seller within 48 hours.
Realtor Responsibility #3: Marketing the property
In as much as listing a property on MLS makes it visible to other real estate agents and the general public, this is not enough to effectively advertise the property to potential buyers. It would help if you were more aggressive in your marketing to make the property as attractive and enticing as possible.
Start by posting clear and high-quality photos of the home, together with a description that emphasizes the home’s best qualities. Also, seek out the best websites to advertise the property and take advantage of search engine optimization tactics to have your listing appear among the top Google searches. Remember to factor the demographics of the potential audience when devising your marketing strategy.
Realtor Responsibility #4: Arrange showings and open houses
As a realtor, you are the primary contact for the home. This means your realtor responsibilities involve handling all that pertains to preparing the home for showings and open house days. You might want to hire a competent home stager to give the home a lived-in feel. As potential buyers view the house, they get a feeling of how it would be like to live in it.
Maintain constant communication with the seller and let them know when there are showings or open house days. It’s important to keep them updated at every stage of the transaction until the sale is concluded.
Realtor Responsibility #5: Negotiating the best terms
Exceptional agents go out of their way to get the deal with the best terms and conditions for their clients. Even though earning commissions is important for real estate agents, the top priority is never about making your next sale.
Your focus as an agent or realtor should be on the quality of the deal you make. Always make counter-offers depending on what’s best for your client and read up on negotiation skills. Keep in mind that everything in real estate contracts is negotiable.
Realtor Responsibility #6: Adhere to real estate laws
Whatever name the national association of realtors in your country goes by, you are expected to uphold specific duties to your clients, the general public and other realtors. This includes avoiding exaggeration of any kind when conducting real estate transactions, as well as misrepresenting or concealing crucial facts about a sale.
According to the realtors’ code of ethics, all realtors must carry out their real estate communications honestly and truthfully. They should present an accurate picture when marketing and advertising properties.
Realtors should also be intent on protecting and promoting the interests of their clients. To have an edge over the competition, make sure your national realtors’ association recognizes you as a realtor. Acquiring this distinction will also make you the preferred choice for many clients as you are morally bound to the realtors’ code.
