1. Hire an Agent

Selling real estate demands much more than planting a yard sign and listing the property on the MLS. Transactions are often complex, may employ lengthy contracts with many addenda, involve legal disclosures, and can require patient negotiation and shepherding to close.

It's important to hire an experienced real estate professional who'll ask the right questions at the right time, help you make decisions supportive of your objectives, and negotiate with your best interests at heart. You need a ValuePlus Properties Agent.

Agency in Real Estate

For decades the only party a real estate agent could represent was the seller. That's right, astonishing as it sounds, millions of buyers nationwide bought real estate working with agents who actually owed their total loyalty, by law, to the other party in the transaction, the seller! Anything the buyer said to the agent, perhaps about their financial situation, their willingness to pay more, or the urgency of their need for this particular property, had to be communicated to the seller. Many buyers unwittingly put themseleves at a significant disadvantage in their negotiations.

Many lawsuits later, by the early 1990's, the industry leveled the playing field with exclusive buyer agency. Even today, more than a decade later, the issue of agency in real estate can cause confusion among buyers, sellers, and agents alike. To fully protect your interests, you must be perfectly clear about who you interact with and how they're required to act.

In fact, it's so important that the North Carolina Real Estate Commission requires every agent to review with you, at first substantial contact, their brochure Working with Real Estate Agents. It explains the different ways buyers and sellers work with real estate agents. Please take a moment to read it so we can discuss it with you when you call.

Forms of Agency

In real estate agency, as defined by the NC Real Estate Commission, the most important thing to know is whether an agent is WORKING FOR you or WORKING WITH you. The agent you've hired to represent you, through a formal employment agreement such as the Exclusive Right To Sell Listing Agreement , is WORKING FOR you and owes you the fullest possible set of duties and loyalty permitted and proscribed by law. Other agents you may encounter are simply WORKING WITH you, and owe you, at most, a limited set of duties.

You can rest assured that when you work with one of our agents, we'll be representing your best interests exclusively, regardless of who's making an offer to buy your property.

Finding the Right Agent for You

Not all agents operate the same way or have the same level of expertise. Our agents:

Guide you through the design and execution of a comprehensive Dynamic Selling^™ project tailored to your unique situation and needs.
Know local real estate market conditions and trends.
Help you price, position, and promote your property to sell it quickly, for the most money, on the best terms.
Formulate and execute a multi-channel marketing plan to attract the largest possible pool of potential buyers.
Can offer creative solutions to keep a deal on track and closing on time.
Help you understand each step and all the required paperwork.
Provide you with powerful market intelligence on neighborhood appreciation, past sales, pending sales, and current listings in order to evaluate pricing strategy and offers.
Can handle all the transaction details according to your wishes, from start to closing, so you have more time to do what you like best.
Above all, a good agent will ask many questions to understand your needs, keep you well informed and up to date at every step, and protect your best interests to help assure your success.

ValuePlus Properties agents model all of these qualities to provide responsive, friendly, professional service that maximizes your value and enjoyment from real estate.