Real estate is a complicated industry. For many people, a house is the biggest asset they’ll buy or sell in their entire lifetime, and this asset can come with mountains of paperwork, laws to abide by, and financial constraints. There’s a lot to keep track of.
Fortunately, your realtor can simplify all of this.
An experienced real estate agent can cut through the inevitable complications to give you a buying or selling experience that’s as smooth as possible.
As realtors ourselves, we’re intimately familiar with the problems that can pop up! When we moved back to Pittsburgh in 2010 (before we were realtors), we started our first home buying journey and discovered how complicated it can be.
We toured dozens of homes and were consistently disappointed that we couldn’t find anything in our budget that met everything on our wishlist. Discouraged and exhausted, we eventually settled on an apartment on Beechwood Boulevard in Squirrel Hill until we finally adjusted our expectations.
With our updated vision, our realtor found us an adorable starter home along Greenfield’s Coleman Street—our first home in Pittsburgh!
Since becoming realtors ourselves, we strive to give all of our clients a pain-free experience, and we do that by utilizing all of the resources, relationships, knowledge, and skills we’ve developed over the years.
Advantages of Working With a Pittsburgh Realtor
Once you’ve found a Pittsburgh realtor you enjoy working with, some of the biggest benefits you’ll find include:
1. Smoother, fasters transactions.
Your realtor has been through the home buying process/selling process before, and they know exactly how to respond at each stage. That knowledge is critical to the overall success of a sale because buying and selling a home is complicated.
Buying a home is much more than finding the right property. It also includes finding and transferring the deed, writing up a bill of sale, creating an affidavit of title, preparing a written offer, transferring tax declarations, negotiating and coordinating repairs, and plenty more!
There’s a reason folks in the real estate industry hate a “For Sale By Owner” transaction: They often wind up more complicated than they need to be because the selling side has never managed a sale before!
2. Easier negotiations
Your realtor understands the market, which means they also understand how a house should be priced based on its location, size, physical condition, and other external factors. For example, a home in the Millvale flood plain likely shouldn’t go for the same price as a similar Millvale home with an equally convenient location outside of the flood zone. Finding a Pittsburgh realtor can unlock all of this knowledge in your negotiations.
3. The ability to spot problems in the home.
Although the home inspection is intended to spot critical or dangerous flaws in a home, it won’t always highlight issues like cracks in a kitchen cabinet panel or how the baseboard moulding in a child’s bedroom is severely dented in multiple areas.
Your realtor is experienced at catching potential problems in a home, especially those that will require significant investment after the sale. If you’re buying a home, your realtor may be able to reduce the sales price during negotiations if it’s clear you’ll need to make immediate repairs.
4. Your realtor has access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
Your realtor pays for access to the MLS, a massive database of homes and home details provided by themselves, other realtors, and brokers in the region.
While the MLS might sound like Zillow or Redfin, the MLS is actually much more powerful. A single MLS listing can include hundreds of data points, as well as the home’s previous listings and sales history going back decades.
Simply put, the MLS equips the buyer with much more data than any other resource available on the market.
5. Your realtor has an expansive, established network of trusted industry partners.
Your realtor should have an extensive network of fellow agents, title companies, mortgage brokers, contractors, designers, and other industry partners who can assist in your sale if any issues pop up.
Example: If you’re interested in buying a home that needs serious repairs in the garage, your realtors may be able to contact an experienced contractor who can provide an accurate estimate on how much you should expect to invest in repairing the garage.
6. Deep market understanding.
Your realtor should also have a thorough understanding of the local market, especially when it comes to how a location may impact the day-to-day life of a potential homeowner.
For example, Ted and I have developed a reputation for having a deep knowledge of Pittsburgh’s east end. In all fairness, we do live in this area, and my family lives in and around the Greenfield neighborhood! Because we live and work here, we understand the nuances of individual homes and the surrounding streets, including the proximity to the local markets, banks, schools, and everything else that impacts a homeowner’s daily life.
These details are critical to the final decision to purchase a home, but that information isn’t always readily available on sites like Zillow. We have, however, built much of that information into our Pittsburgh neighborhood reports!
7. (For Buyers) Access to the best homes in the market.
As we mentioned previously, you won’t necessarily find the best homes on the market through Zillow! Since your realtor has access to the MLS, they can uncover homes you likely won’t learn about anywhere else, and they may even come across data that shows the “dream home” you’ve been eyeing up on Zillow is actually a bust based on your requirements.
8. (For Sellers) Experience in marketing to the best buyers.
If your realtor works with sellers, they should be up to speed on the latest marketing techniques to help you sell your home as quickly as possible at the best price possible. Sure, safe and responsible open houses can be part of that, but a smart realtor on the seller’s side has a few more tricks up their sleeves, including their vast email list, social media campaigns, and other platforms for sales success.
9. Smoother closing process.
The final close is one of the most important steps of the home buying and selling process as it marks the finish line for the transaction. To prepare for the close, though, you’ll need a final walk-through, compilation of documents, and coordination with the mortgage provider and title agent. Your realtor knows what to look for and expect, and they can spot and prevent issues before they occur.
10. A professional opinion and perspective on each home (including staging and remodeling guidance).
Your real estate agent spends all day looking at homes, so they know a good deal when they see one! Part of being a good realtor is giving a fair, honest, and unbiased opinion on each home based on a buyer’s wish list and budget—and your realtor should be capable of doing this.
Even better, though, is when your realtor has a few more skills up their sleeve. I’ve personally taken interior design courses to expand my knowledge base and our service offering to clients, and Ted has spearheaded multiple flips and remodels. Together, we can offer additional perspective to homeowners who are curious about buying a fixer-upper.
And with our combined experience, we’re also capable of providing staging advice to speed up your sale. In fact, we recently invested in a van to help us transport staging supplies from one home to the next—that is, when we’re not using it for van life with our four kids!
Find A Pittsburgh Realtor That’s Right For You
Finding the right realtor can make an enormous difference in your personal and financial life. A bad realtor can slow the real estate transaction and leave tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on the negotiating table, significantly increasing your final bill.
A good real estate agent, however, simplifies your transaction. Whether you’re buying or selling, your real estate agent should create a smooth experience while getting you the best price possible.
If you’re interested in learning more, contact us! You can reach us at theblocks@theblocksintheburgh.com or call us at 412.926.7976.
Cheers,
Julie & Ted