
Does size matter? Is it better to list your home with a small real estate company, or a large one? That’s the question that will be top of your mind if you’re thinking of Selling a Home in the Iowa City area. The quick and easy answer to the question is that the size of the real estate company doesn’t matter. It’s the quality of the agent that’s listing your home that matters. Realtors are independent contractors, and that’s regardless of who they work for. Each agent is responsible for taking care of their own listings and how they are marketed. There are good agents at large brokerages and good agents at small brokerages. That’s why it’s important to choose the agent you work with based on their knowledge of the Iowa City real estate market and their marketing skills, NOT who they work for.
That’s the quick and easy answer, but it won’t answer all your questions if you’re getting ready to list your home in the Iowa City area. Recently I spoke to a seller who thought that listing with a large real estate company would be beneficial, because as he put it there’s the potential of a lot of real estate agents showing the house “and large real estate companies sell their own listings first.” This might have been true back in the days before we all had access to unlimited information on our smartphones. That was a time when Brokerages had full control of who had access to their listings and when they had it. The Internet was a game changer. These days MLS listings are synced automatically to online aggregators and Brokerages no longer have the same control they had in days gone by.
Considering we’re pretty much all mobile now, Buyers will see your listing right away, regardless of who lists it. On the surface you might think that means that listing a house or condo with any agent will get the job done. If only that were true. It isn’t. There is a down side to the concept of unlimited access to information and that downside is that buyers will skip right past your listing if it doesn’t jump off the screen and “talk” to them. What you need is an agent who knows how to make your house “pop” online and stand apart from the sea of homes that buyers get served up daily. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Agents don’t sell homes. They market them.
When you think about it, that’s what it comes down to. You have a house to sell and you need potential buyers to come by and see it. Before the Internet you might have needed a big real estate company to achieve that. Not anymore you don’t. Now all you need is an agent who understands the Iowa City area real estate market and knows how to market your home to buyers online to get it sold. Of course there are a couple of other steps along the way. Preparing your home properly before you put it on the market is one of them and pricing your home right for the market is another. That’s why I talked about choosing an agent based on their knowledge of the Iowa City real estate market AND their marketing skills.
The size of the real estate company you work with doesn’t matter – What does matter is that you choose the right agent to get your home sold!
Cardinal Realty is located in Coralville. A small company keeping real estate simple – Communication, Knowledge and Experience – A combo that ensures you get the best service on the way to selling your home in the Iowa City area. Are you ready to get your home in the Iowa City and Coralville area sold? Call 319-400-0268 today – Let’s get started on getting that SOLD sign in your yard!